Liu Yuxi

Liu Yuxi from the Wan Xiao Tang, published in 1743

Template:Chinese name Liu Yuxi (Wade-Giles: Liu Yü-hsi; simplified Chinese: 刘禹锡; traditional Chinese: 劉禹錫; pinyin: Liú Yǔxī) (772–842) was a Chinese poet, philosopher, and essayist, active during the Tang Dynasty.

Poetry

Just over 700 of his poems still exist, notable for their simple, 'folk' style. He was a friend of the great poet Bai Juyi, born in the same year as Liu Yuxi, who referred to "Liu and Po, those two mad old men" in at least one poem dedicated to Liu. Four of his poems are included in the classic Qing Dynasty anthology Three Hundred Tang Poems, which was first published in the 18th-century.

Lou Shi Ming

One of his most famous poems is 'Lou Shi Ming' 陋室銘, "The Scholar's Humble Dwelling", describing living in a simple dwelling, following a life that is refined in culture and learning:

	山不在高， Who heeds the hill's bare height until 有仙則名； Some legend grows around the hill? 水不在深， Who cares how deep the stream before 有龍則靈。 Its fame is writ in country lore? 斯是陋室， And so this humble hut of mine 惟吾德馨。 May shelter virtues half divine. 苔痕上階綠， The moss may climb its ruined stair, 草色入簾青。 And grassy stains the curtain wear, 談笑有鴻儒， But scholars at their ease within, 往來無白丁。 For all but Ignorance enters in, 可以調素琴， With simple lute the time beguile, 閱金經。 Or "Golden Classic's" page a while. 無絲竹之亂耳， No discords here their ears assail, 無案牘之勞形。 Nor cares of business to bewail. 南陽諸葛廬， This is the life the Sages led. 西蜀子雲亭。 孔子云：「何陋之有？」 "How were they poor?" Confucius said. (Translated by James Black.)

Names
Chinese:	刘禹锡
Pinyin:	Liú Yǔxī
Wade-Giles:	Liu Yü-hsi
Japanese:	りゅう うしゃく Ryū Ushaku
Zì (字):	Mèng dé (梦得; Meng-te in Wade-Giles)
Hào (號):	Shī háo (詩豪; Shih-hao in Wade-Giles)

Gallery

• 
  Statue of Liu Yuxi in Baidicheng, now in Fengjie County, Chongqing Municipality
• 
  Poem of Liu Yuxi by the Chinese calligrapher Sun Xinde

References

• Lim, Chooi Kua [Lin Shui-kao]: A biography of Liu Yuxi, Chinese Culture, 36.2, 37.1 (1994, 1996), 115-50, 111-141
• Red Pine (translator) (2003): Poems of the Masters: China's Classic Anthology of T'ang and Sung Dynasty Verse, Port Townsend, WA: Copper Canyon Press
• Richardson, Tori Cliffon Anthony. "Liu Pin-k'o chia-hua lu ('A Record of Adviser to the Hier Apparent Liu (Yü-hsi's) Fine Discourses'): A Study and Translation. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Wisconsin, 1994

External links

• Liu Yuxi page at Whittier.edu
• Five poems by Liu Yuxi (Chinese only) at Chinapage.org
• Works by Liu Yuxi at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)