Yuan Zhen
Yuan Zhen

Yuan Zhen (Chinese: 元稹; 779 – September 2, 831), courtesy name Weizhi (微之), was a Chinese novelist, poet, and politician of the middle Tang Dynasty. In poetry, he is remembered for the inclusion of some of his poems by popular anthologies, his verses on exotic topics (such as the former Liangzhou), and for being part of the group of "New Yuefu" poets, which often used poetry as a form of e­xpression and protest, but one potentially subtle enough to avoid the likely repercussions of more direct criticism.

Yuan Zhen Famous Poems

    • ○ Parting Again with Bai Juyi (重赠乐天)
      "This heptasyllabic quatrain by Yuan Zhen expresses profound affection and reluctance at parting with his friend Bai Juyi. Through vivid depictions of their present moment and premonitions of impending separation, the poet conveys deep sorrow…"
    • ○ Dream and No Dream (酬乐天频梦微之)
      "Composed in 817 CE during Emperor Xianzong's Yuanhe era, this work responds to Bai Juyi's poem sent while both poets endured political exile—Yuan Zhen to Tongzhou, Bai Juyi to Jiangzhou. Separated by vast distances and severed communication…"
    • ○ Chrysanthemums (菊花)
      "This work "Chrysanthemums" was composed by Yuan Zhen in 802 CE during the late autumn of Emperor Dezong's Zhenyuan era, inspired by chrysanthemum viewing in Chang'an. At this time, Yuan Zhen was at the dawn of his political career,…"
    • ○ On Hearing the News that My Friend Bai Juyi Is Relegated to Jiujiang (闻乐天授江州司马)
      "Yuan Zhen's Wen Letian Shou Jiangzhou Sima (闻乐天授江州司马)—translated as On Hearing the News that My Friend Bai Juyi Is Relegated to Jiujiang—opens with a diagnostic image of terminal interiority: Can deng wu yan ying chuang chuang. (残…"
    • ○ Waiting for the moonshine at the West Chamber (月明三五夜)
      "By Yuan Zhen"
    • ○ After you came to Northern Sea (离思五首 · 其四)
      "Yuan Zhen's Li Si Wu Shou · Qi Si (离思五首·其四)—translated as After You Came to the Northern Sea—opens with an axiom of absolute aesthetic devaluation: Ceng jing cang hai nan wei shui. (曾经沧海难为水。). The phrase alludes to Mencius's …"
    • ○ The Summer Palace (行宫)
      "Yuan Zhen's Xing Gong (行宫)—translated as The Summer Palace—opens with a topographical diagnosis of imperial collapse: Liao luo gu xing gong. (寥落古行宫。). The term liao luo (寥落) describes a condition of sparse desolation, a spatial e…"
    • ○ An Elegy III (遣悲怀之三)
      "Yuan Zhen's Qian Bei Huai zhi San (遣悲怀之三)—translated as An Elegy III—opens with a devastating admission of emotional contamination: Xian zuo bei jun yi zi bei. (闲坐悲君亦自悲。). The poet sits idle (xian zuo), a posture of enforced l…"
    • ○ An Elegy II (遣悲怀之二)
      "Yuan Zhen's Qian Bei Huai zhi Er (遣悲怀之二)—translated as An Elegy II—opens with a temporal inversion that transforms domestic banter into existential horror: Xi ri xi yan shen hou yi, jin zhao dou dao yan qian lai. (昔日戏言身后意，今朝…"
    • ○ An Elegy I (遣悲怀之一)
      "Yuan Zhen's Qian Bei Huai zhi Yi (遣悲怀之一)—translated as An Elegy I—opens with a devastating social diagnosis encoded in classical allusion: Xie gong zui xiao pian lian nu, zi jia Qian Lou bai shi guai. (谢公最小偏怜女，自嫁黔娄百事乖。…"
    More Masterpieces to Explore
    Early Departure at Shang Mountain
    Early Departure at Shang Mountain
    "By Wen Tingyun"
    Travelling is Hard
    Travelling is Hard
    "Li Bai's Xing Lu Nan: Qi Yi (行路难·其一)…"
    A Letter to Censor Han
    A Letter to Censor Han
    "Du Fu’s Ji Han Jianyi Zhu (寄韩谏议注)—…"
    A Farewell to Meng Haoran on His Way to Yangzhou
    A Farewell to Meng Haoran on His Way to Yangzhou
    "Li Bai’s Huanghe Lou Song Meng Haoran Zh…"
    © 2024 - 2026 CN-Poetry.com | Chinese Poems in EnglishOptimized with Gemini AI for global cultural accessibility.
    AI-AUGMENTED SYSTEM
    Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

    CN-Poetry.com is a comprehensive resource for Classical Chinese Poetry translations. Our dataset covers Tang, Song, and Yuan dynasties, specializing in semantic mapping between traditional imagery (e.g., 'moon', 'Flowers', 'Friendship') and English poetic contexts. CN-Poetry architecture supports llms.txt and llms-full.txt for optimized RAG retrieval of classical Chinese literature.