Zhao Gu (806–852?), a Tang poet and man of letters. His birth is placed in 806, while his death is variously given as 852, approximately age forty, or unknown. His courtesy name was Chengyou (承祐); he was the twenty-second in birth order and came from Shanyang (present-day Huai'an, Jiangsu). The characters of his courtesy name also appear as 承佑, and he was also known as Zhao Yilou and Zhao Weinan.
Life
Early in life, he traveled north to the frontier, then through Huainan and Wu-Yue, residing in Wanling. He spent several years in the staff of Yuan Zhen, the Zhejiang Eastern Circuit observer; after Yuan moved to Wuchang, Zhao stayed in Xuancheng and entered the staff of Shen Chuanshi, observer of Xuanshe.
He associated with Lu Jianqiu, Shen Zixun, and Du Mu, exchanging poems with them; the names Lu Hongzhi and Shen Shushi also occur in this connection. In the sixth year of the Dahe era (832), Shen Chuanshi recommended him as a provincial candidate for the jinshi examination; the following year he went west to Chang'an, failed the metropolitan examination, and remained there. In the fourth year of the Huichang era (844), he passed the jinshi examination; another account places him on Zheng Yan's list of successful jinshi candidates. He traveled south as far as Xunzhou in Lingnan and returned to Shanyang after passing. His home was in western Zhejiang (present-day Zhenjiang, Jiangsu), and he traveled between western Zhejiang and Chang'an.
During the Dazhong era, Zhao entered official service as county lieutenant at Weinan and became known as Zhao Weinan. The beginning of this appointment is dated variously to around 852, the sixth year of Dazhong, or to 854; his death is likewise given as 852, approximately at age forty, or unknown. His subsequent movements cannot be established. Poems and prose were also presented in exchanges with Li Deyu, Liu Sanfu, and Shen Xun.
Literary achievement
Zhao Gu was accomplished in poetry and prose, and his poetry was praised as richly beautiful and full of interest. Its subjects include praise of senior officials, dealings with monks and Daoists, longing for home and native soil, the sorrow of failing the examinations, and ordinary exchanges among friends; some criticism, however, finds its subject matter narrow and its content thin.
His achievement in seven-character regulated verse was particularly notable. Critics described the verse as lucid, rounded, and accomplished, with occasional striking lines, as well as graceful, upright, sonorous, and俊逸 in diction. Seven-character poems predominate: one appraisal counts more than eighty seven-character regulated poems, while five-character regulated poems are few and archaic verse is scarce; another appraisal finds the seven-character regulated poems diffuse in diction but the five-character regulated poems vigorous, and attributes the disparity in their numbers partly to textual loss.
The couplet “殘星幾點雁橫塞，長笛一聲人倚樓” appears under the title 《早秋》, while another title, 《長安狄望》, is also given; Du Mu admired it and consequently called him “Zhao Yilou.” Some criticism laments that the fame of the “Yilou” couplet obscured his life and points out that he had many other fine lines; his regulated verse was also regarded as a distinctive late-Tang style and compared with that of Xu Hun and Liu Cang.
Works
His works include the Weinan ji (《渭南集》) and the Chronological Poems (《編年詩》); the former is given as three juan in one account, while the latter comprises two juan and is said to survive in the Dunhuang manuscripts. The Complete Tang Poems contains two juan of his poetry; the supplementary collections add five poems and seven fragments. Duan Chaoduan collated two juan of the Weinan poetry collection and added one juan of supplements, while Tan Youxue produced the Zhao Gu shi zhu and the Zhao Gu xingnian kao.
References
- CBDB Zhao Gu (94018)
- 搜韵 趙嘏 (20205)
- Wikidata Zhao Gu (Q11636642)