Liêu Hữu Phương (Chữ Hán: 廖有方; Chinesepinyin:Liào Yǒufāng;Wade–Giles:Liao4 Yu3-fang1), Chinese nameLiao Yuqīng (fl. 9th century), was apoet and government official of theTang dynasty during the early 9th century AD.
Liêu Hữu Phương was ofVietnamese ethnicity. He was born in Jiao prefecture (modern-dayHanoi),Protectorate General to Pacify the South, whenVietnam was part of the Tang dynasty. Little was known about his early life.[1]
The Tang imperial system allowed for some promotion by merit and could even be strikingly trans-ethnic. At this time, however,Confucianism ideas had very little impact on the indigenous people of North Vietnam. A Tang official wrote dismissively in 845: "Annan has produced no more than eight imperial officials; senior graduates have not exceeded ten."[2]
In 815, Liêu Hữu Phương took a 1,450-mile journey fromHanoi toChang'an, the capital of the Tang dynasty, to take the Tangimperial examination, but he failed. He then took a trip toShu, modern-daySichuan Province, to visit a fellow student.[1] In the next year, he again participated in the civil service examination and passed it. He was appointed as a librarian at the imperial court.[2]
His poems are now lost; hisOn a Stranger’s Coffin: A Poem Engraved on the Occasion of Burying a Scholar at Baoqe inQuan Tang Shi is the only preserved one and the oldest extant poem written in Chinese by a Vietnamese.[3]
In the tenth year ofYuanhe (815), I failed the examinations [at Ch’ang-an, the T'ang capital in northern China]. I traveled in the west and came to the Baoqe district. There I was surprised to hear the sound of someone groaning. I inquired about that person's distress. He replied: "I have coiled through many examinations but have not yet found favor." Then he knocked his head on the floor. I talked with him for a long time. His replies were prompt and bitter. Unable to say more, he suddenly leaned to one side and died. I immediately sold my horse to a village notable and bought a coffin for his burial. Alas, I did not even know his name! I took a path through the mountains and sadly laid him to rest. Later, I returned with aninscription:
|