Qu Yuan

Qu Yuan
Portrait of Qu Yuan by Chen Hongshou (17th century)
Born	c. 339 BC State of Chu, in modern-day Zigui County, Hubei, China
Died	278 BC (aged 62) Miluo River
Occupation	Poet, politician
Chinese name
Chinese	屈原
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Qū Yuán Wade–Giles Ch'ü1 Yüan2 IPA [tɕʰý ɥɛ̌n] Wu Suzhounese Chiueh Nyœ́ Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Wāt Yùhn Jyutping Wat1 Jyun4 IPA [wɐt̚˥ jyːn˩] Southern Min Hokkien POJ Khut Goân Tâi-lô Khut Guân Old Chinese Baxter–Sagart (2014) *kʰut N-ɢʷar

Qu Yuan (c. 340 BC – 278 BC)^[1][2][3] was a Chinese poet and aristocrat in the State of Chu during the Warring States period. He is known for his patriotism and contributions to classical poetry and verses, especially through the poems of the Chu Ci anthology (also known as The Songs of the South or Songs of Chu): a volume of poems attributed to or considered to be inspired by his verse writing. Together with the Shi Jing, the Chu Ci is one of the two greatest collections of ancient Chinese verse. He is also remembered in connection to the supposed origin of the Dragon Boat Festival.

Historical details about Qu Yuan's life are few, and his authorship of many Chu Ci poems has been questioned at length.^[4] However, he is widely accepted to have written "The Lament," a Chu Ci poem. The first known reference to Qu Yuan appears in a poem written in 174 BC by Jia Yi, an official from Luoyang who was slandered by jealous officials and banished to Changsha by Emperor Wen of Han. While traveling, he wrote a poem describing the similar fate of a previous "Qu Yuan."^[5] Eighty years later, the first known biography of Qu Yuan's life appeared in Han dynasty historian Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian, though it contains a number of contradictory details.^[6]