Chen Weisong (), also called Chen Qinian (堶年) or Chen Jialing (迦éµ), lived 1626 January 7ï¼Â1682 June 13, was the first of the great Ci and Pianwen poets during the Qing dynasty. He was the leader and founder of the Yangxian poetry school ().
Chen Weisong was born to Ming dynasty prince Chen Zhenhui () in Yixing, Jiangsu. Chen's ancestor Chen Yuting () was a Ming dynasty royal court official (å·¦é½御å²). Growing up, Chen had a long beard or ran, so he was sometimes called Chen Ran ().
He grew up healthy with a talent in literature and writing. He ranked first in the Yangxian poetry test / competition and was friends with Wu Weiye, Maoxiang, Gong Dingzi, Jiang Chenying, Shao Changheng, Peng Sundi and others. Together with Wu Zhaoqian and Peng Shidu, he was praised by Wu Weiye as "Three Phoenix in Jiang Zuo" (æ±Âå·¦ä¸Âå¤). Together with Wu Qi and Zhang Zaogong, they are called "three pianwen geniuses" (駢é«Âä¸Â家/éªÂä½Âä¸Â家ï¼Âpianwen is a form of Chinese poem). When the Ming was replaced by the Qing, Chen took the Imperial examination (ç§ÂèÂÂ/ç§Â举) to become a government bureaucrat, but then later changed his mind to pursue a life as a poet.
In November 1658, he visited Maoxiang, studied in Shencui Room in Shuihua Temple, and met Yunlang (Xu Ziyun).
In the spring 1662, he went to Yangzhou and alongside writers and helped repair the Xihong Bridge. In 1709, he participated in the "Erudite Great Poetry Competition" (Ã¥ÂÂå¸å®Âè¾Âç§Â/Ã¥ÂÂå¦å®Âè¾Âç§Â) and was awarded by the official Hanlin Academy (ç¿°æÂÂé¢) for his works.
In 1682, Chen had a headache for more than 40 days and then died, aged 58. His friend Jiang Jingqi () mourned and wrote:
'This grief is hard to overcome. It is impossible to forget the tomb of this great hero. The spirit is now like frozen drum strings.'
Chen was a prolific poet, writing around 460 poems and 1,629 songs on a variety of topics. He was the first great Ci poets during Qing dynasty and considered one of the greatest poets in Chinese history. His works include:
It was said of Chen that:
âÂÂå¡«è¯Âä¹Âå¯Âï¼Âå¤ä»Âæ 两â (The richness of Chen's poems is second to none from past to present).
According to Qian Zhonglian (), among 1944 Ci poems compiled over China's history, Chen Weisong's poems stand out as the richest. Today he is recognized as one of the first great Ci poets during the Ming-Qing Transition and one of the greatest poets in Chinese history.
Even though Chen Weisong married and had children (sons and daughters) with wives and concubines, his deepest relationship was with boy-actor Yun Lang (), also known as Xu Ziyun (). The relationship was famous among their contemporaries, and is also of interest among modern scholars studying sexuality in late imperial China.
Chen wrote many poems with, and about, Yun Lang. For example, on Yun Lang's wedding day, which was arranged by Chen, he wrote:
"Six years we have shared life in this lonely world <br /> IâÂÂll never forget how, <br /> Beside a pillow of red shrub flowers, <br /> Your tears fell tenderly. <br /> Your wedding completed, <br /> May you live in conjugal bliss. <br /> And please perform your best <br /> At being a good husband. <br /> Sorrowfully, my inner quilt as cold as iron, <br /> I reach for the mahogany panpipe <br /> With no hope of catching the light of daybreak through the windows.<br /> Please donâÂÂt worry that I suffer this deep grief."
Despite the dejected spirit of the poem, there is no evidence that Chen's relationship with Yun underwent any change after the wedding; later poems and biographical accounts indicate that they kept their status as each other's primary partner until the younger man's death in 1675.
An artist by the name of Chen Hu also painted a portrait of Yun after a bath; the picture was so famous during the Qing dynasty, that a publication was released containing about 160 poems taking inspiration from the work and celebrating the young man and his relationship with Chen; the poems were composed by almost eighty literary celebrities and officials of the time, including Gong Dingzi, Song Wan, and You Tong.