HSIN CH'I-CHI

born 1140, Shantung province, China died 1207, Shang-jao, Kiangsi province Pinyin Xin Qiji Chinese poet and master soldier whose tz'u (poems written to existing musical patterns) are considered by many critics to be the best of the Southern Sung dynasty (11271279). A soldier by upbringing and a brilliant tactician by the age of 20, Hsin Ch'i-chi was forced to abandon his ambitions to avenge the dishonourable victory of the Juchen over the Sung when the two empires negotiated a peace treaty in 1164. He finally retired in 1194 and built a retreat in beautiful Shang-jao county, where he spent his time reading and creating the tz'u that were to bring him lasting fame. His 623 carefully crafted tz'u are important for their controlled experimentation with, and expansion of, the existing tz'u form, adding to it an emotional depth untapped until that time and widely imitated afterward.