Yuan Jie

Yuan Jie (719/723–772) was a Chinese poet and man of letters of the mid-Tang period. His courtesy name was Cishan, and he had several art names (see below).

He attained a jinshi degree in the imperial examination in 754, and served in several regional government posts before resigning in 769.

Among his most famous poems is the "Zei Tui Shi Guanli", which describes the state of the countryside following the An Lushan Rebellion, which he experienced first-hand. He also compiled a collection of poetry by his contemporaries, the Qie-zhong Ji, and was noted for his prose compositions. Books 240 and 241 of the Quan Tangshi are devoted to his poetry.

Biography
Yuan Jie was born in either 719 or 723, in Wuchang (modern-day Wuhan, Hubei Province), Lu (modern Lushan County, Henan) or Henan (modern Luoyang, Henan Province).

He attained a jinshi degree in the imperial examination in 754, and was involved in the putting down of the An Lushan Rebellion. In 763 he was appointed governor of Dao Prefecture, and in 768 he moved to, but during this time he came to resent the heavy taxes that his position forced him to levy on the peasants, and in 769, following the death of his mother, he resigned his post.

He died in 772.

Names
His courtesy name was Cishan, and his art names included Manlang, Aosou, and Qiganzi.

Poetry
There is a ten-volume, Ming-era anthology of his poetry called the Yuan Cishan Ji.

His  poem "Zei Tui Shi Guanli", which he wrote while stationed in Dao Prefecture and which describes the state of society immediately following An Lushan's rebellion, was highly praised by Du Fu, and is seen as a forerunner of the works of Bai Juyi.

He also compiled the Qie-zhong Ji, a 760 collection of 24 poems by seven of his contemporaries, whose moral temper he admired but who did not hold official position.

Prose
He is often listed alongside Xiao Yingshi and Li Hua as a forerunner of the gu wen movement.

Cited works

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