| Zhang Hu | |||||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | 張祜 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 张祜 | ||||||||
| Literal meaning | (given name) | ||||||||
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| Alternative Chinese name | |||||||||
| Chinese | 承吉 | ||||||||
| Literal meaning | (courtesy name) | ||||||||
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Zhang Hu (c. 792 –c. 853) was aChinese poet of themid-Tang dynasty. Hiscourtesy name wasChengji.
After travelling to the capital ofChang'an, Zhang was unsuccessful in seeking a position at court. He spent the latter half of his life travelling to famous places and composing poetry. The majority of his surviving poems are on historical topics and famous places he visited in his travels.
Zhang Hu was born in 792,[1][a] in Qinghe (modernQinghe County, Hebei orShandong)[2] or possibly Nanyang (modernNanyang, Henan).[3] Hiscourtesy name was Chengji.[2]
Zhang flourished between 820 and 845.[4] Living early on inGusu, in theChangqing era (821–824) he was summoned to the capitalChang'an on the recommendation ofLinghu Chu.[3] Linghu had known Zhang through the 810s, and his recommendation memorial was submitted along with 300 of Zhang's poems.[5] However, he failed to find employment at court due to the opposition ofYuan Zhen, who claimed Zhang lacked literary talent. Zhang moved toHuainan, where he spent his days visiting famous temples and places of scenic beauty and devoting himself to poetry composition.[6]
Later, Zhang retired to Danyang (modernDanyang, Jiangsu), where spent the rest of his days as a private citizen.[3] He likely died in 852 or 853.[2][b]
Roughly 350 of Zhang's poems have survived, most of which are based on famous temples and places of scenic beauty that he visited in his travels.[1] He primarily wrote quatrains onhistorical topics.[4] There is an anthology of his poetry called theZhang Chushi Shiji (simplified Chinese:张処士诗集;traditional Chinese:張處士詩集;pinyin:Zhāng Chǔshì Shījí;Wade–Giles:Chang2 Ch'u3shih4 Shih2chi1;lit. 'Collection of Poems by Retired Scholar Zhang').[3]
Zhang wrote a dozen poems on the reign ofXuanzong,[4] of which the following notably deals with the emperor's relationship with an older sister ofYang Guifei:[7]
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Among Zhang's better-known poems is thewuyan lüshi [zh] "Jinshan-si" (Chinese:金山寺;pinyin:Jīnshān-sì;Wade–Giles:Chin2shan2-ssu4;lit. 'Jinshan Temple" or "Golden Mountain Temple'):[2]
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Five of Zhang's poems were included in theThree Hundred Tang Poems.[16]
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