| Zhou Bangyan | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | 周邦彥 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 周邦彦 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Zhou Bangyan (Chinese:周邦彥; 1056–1121) was a Chinese musician, poet, and politician of theNorthern Song dynasty. He was fromQiantang (in modernHangzhou). Hiscourtesy name wasMeicheng (Chinese:美成;pinyin:Měichéng), and hisart name wasQingzhen Jushi (Chinese:清真居士;pinyin:Qīngzhēn Jūshì). He left a two-volume poetry anthology called either theQingzhen-ji or thePianyu-ci.
Zhou Bangyan was born in 1056.[a] He was a native ofQiantang (錢塘/钱塘Qiántáng, modern-dayHangzhou,Zhejiang Province).[1][2]
At the age of 23, Zhou went to live in the capitalBianliang as a student at theNational Academy.[3] In 1083 he published "Rhapsody on the capital" (汴都賦Biandufu), which described the bustle ofBianliang[4] while also praising the Song dynasty's accomplishments.[3] The poem pleasedEmperor Shenzong, and Zhou was appointed Supervisor at the National Academy (太學正/太学正taixuezheng).[5][2]
In 1087, at the age of 31, Zhou was sent toLu Prefecture inAnhui where he worked as an instructor (教授).[3] He stayed in the provinces for ten years, mostly as Sub-prefect ofLishui County inJiangsu, beforeEmperor Zhezong recalled him in 1097 to be Registrar of the National Academy (國子主簿).[3] He found favour with Emperor Zhezong and his successorEmperor Huizong,[3] and thereafter rose through the ranks in the central government.[3] He left the capital in 1112 to serve as Prefect of Longde-fu (隆德府, in the area of present-dayChangzhi) andMingzhou (明州), before returning in 1116 to become Director of thePalace Library (秘書監), the highest position he received.[6]
In 1118 Zhou was again assigned a prefectural post.[3] After three transfers, he died in Nanjing (present-dayShangqiu) in 1121, aged 66.[b]
Hiscourtesy name was Meicheng, and hisart name was Qingzhen Jushi.[1][2]
Zhou is especially famous as a composer ofci,[1][2] a form of poetry that began in theTang era and flourished during theSong dynasty.[1] His complex and elegant poetic style is noted for its polished and elaborate form, and has been praised as "simple and honest, and elegant" (渾厚和雅).[1] His two-volume poetry anthology is called theQingzhen-ji (清真集) or thePianyu-ci (片玉詞).[1][2]
Zhou was a noted composer of tunes and lyrics, working in close association with the imperial Music Bureau (大晟府Dashengfu),[7][c] which presided overcourt music. He was a proficient musician, and set many of his own poems to music.[2]
He became known as the "Patriarch ofCi Poets" (詞家正宗),[2] and is listed along withLiu Yong,Xin Qiji andJiang Kui as the "Four GreatCi Poets".[2] His poetry served as a model forci poets of later eras,[8] with many imitators among theSouthern Song literati.[4] One example is theHe Qingzhen-ci (和清真詞) byFang Qianli (方千里).[1]
Chen Yuanlong (陳元龍) of the Southern Song composed a ten-volume commentary on his poetry entitledPianyu-ji (片玉集).[1]
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