CH'U YUAN

born c. 343 BC, , state of Ch'u, central China died c. 289, , Ch'u Pinyin Qu Yuan one of the greatest poets of ancient China and the earliest known by name. Ch' Yan's highly original and imaginative verse had an enormous influence over early Chinese poetry. He was born a member of the ruling house of Ch'u, a large state in the central valley of the Yangtze River. Ch' Yan was appointed while still in his 20s as a trusted, favoured counselor of his kinsman Huai Wang, the ruler of Ch'u. Ch'u Yan advocated the unpopular policy of resistance to Ch'in, the most powerful of the Warring States, causing his rival courtiers to intrigue successfully against him. Estranged from the throne through the malice of his rivals, Ch' Yan was banished to the south of the Yangtze River by Huai's successor, Ching Hsiang. In despair over his banishment Ch' Yan wandered about southern Ch'u, writing poetry and observing the shamanistic folk rites and legends that greatly influenced his works. He eventually drowned himself in despair in the Mi-lo River, a tributary of the Yangtze. The famous Dragon Boat Festival, held on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar year, originated as a search for the poet's body. The works of Ch' Yan have survived in an early anthology, the Ch'u tz'u ("Elegies of Ch'u"), much of which must be attributed to later poets writing about the legendary life of Ch' Yan. The anthology begins with the long melancholic poem "Li sao" ("On Encountering Sorrow"), Ch' Yan's most famous work.