Zhang Ji (poet from Hubei)

Summary

Zhang Ji (traditional Chinese: 張繼; simplified Chinese: 张继; pinyin: Zhāng Jì; Wade–Giles: Chang Chi; fl.Tooltip floruit 8th century), courtesy name Yisun (懿孙), was a Chinese poet born in Xiangyang during the Tang dynasty.

Statue of Zhang Ji at the Maple Bridge, Suzhou

Little is known of his life; his approximate dates are 712–715 to 779; he is known to have passed the jinshi examination in 753. He rose to be a secretary in the Board of Revenue.[1]

He is incorrectly credited under the name Chang Tsi as the author of the original Chinese text for the second movement of Das Lied von der Erde by Gustav Mahler.[2][3] The actual author of the poem used by Mahler was Qian Qi.[4]

Poetry edit

Zhang is correctly credited with one poem which was included in the classic anthology Three Hundred Tang Poems, which was translated by Witter Bynner as "A Night-mooring near Maple Bridge" (楓橋夜泊) which references the Maple Bridge (楓橋), in Suzhou(蘇州) near the Hanshan Temple and its bells, which became famous because of this poem.

Japanese poets used some of his poems for Japanese typical Shigin singing-style poetry.

Notes edit

  1. ^ Herbert A. Giles. "Chang Chi." A Chinese Biographical Dictionary. 1898.
  2. ^ Freed, Richard (2003-11-20). "About the Composition: Das Lied von der Erde". John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  3. ^ "Teng-Leong Chew: The Identity of the Chinese Poem Mahler adapted for "Von der Jugend"" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on December 22, 2006. Retrieved 2007-04-09.
  4. ^ Quantangshi, 卷236_23 《效古秋夜長》 錢起

References edit

  • Wang, Yunxi and Yang, Ming, "Zhang Ji"[permanent dead link]. Encyclopedia of China (Chinese Literature Edition), 1st ed.
  • Wenk, Arthur B. (1977-07-01). "The Composer as Poet in Das Lied von der Erde". 19th-Century Music. 1 (1): 33–47. doi:10.1525/ncm.1977.1.1.02a00030. JSTOR 746768.

External links edit

  • Mahler Archives Website, with poem
  • Books of the Quan Tangshi that include collected poems of Zhang Ji at the Chinese Text Project:
    • Book 382
    • Book 383
    • Book 384
    • Book 385
    • Book 386