The Chinese Sanqu poetry writer Yuan Haowen 元好問 (1190–1257) was also known as Yishan 遺山 or “Yuan of Yi Mountain.” He was from Xinzhou in Shanxi province. His ancestors were of non-Chinese origins who changed their surname to Yuan. His father experienced disappointments in life and later led a secluded existence. However he passed on his taste for literature to his son. An official uncle took the young Yuan on official journeys, thus introducing him to well known places and scenery. He could compose poetry by age seven leading people to refer to him as a child prodigy. His uncle also saw to it that he study with the best teachers. He prospered. Born at the height of the Jin dynasty 金(1115–1234), he experienced the social unrest and war at the decline of the dynasty. He fled to Henan with his mother when the Jin regime moved their capital. He had served the Jin in a variety of posts, but at its demise he no longer sought official appointments. For a time he was a destitute wanderer. He was the greatest living literary figure of his period, excelling at various genres. His ci 詞 poetry is said to be the best of Jin period writers. Just a few of his sanqu lyrics have survived.
(Huangzhong: Renyueyuan)
Settling Down in My Wife’s Family Dongyuan Country Place
Layers of hills cut off the dust of the world.
In villages, rich harvest years.
I had to move here
For the peaks through my windows
And pines behind my hut.
Every tenth year pines are planted,
And every year the grain.
Those are left for the boy.
For this old man –
The bright moon after sobering up,
The clear wind after drinking.
Hu Qiaomu ed., The Great Encyclopedia of China, Chinese Literature, vol. 2, Beijing-Shanghai, 1986, p. 910.
Lu Weifen and Wu Gengshun ed., Complete Yuan Period Sanqu Lyrics, Liaoning, 2000, vol. 1, pp. 144–51.
Ma Liangchun and Li Futian ed., The Great Encyclopedia of Chinese Literature, Tianlu, 1991, vol. 2, pp. 495–6.
Carpenter, Bruce E. 'Chinese San-ch’ü Poetry of the Mongol Era: I', Tezukayama Daigaku kiyo (Journal of Tezukayama University), Nara, Japan, no. 22, pp. 34–5.