Qu Yuan: Father of Chinese Poetry

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• published: 04 Feb 2013
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Qu Yuan, from China's Warring States Period, has come to be regarded as the Father of Chinese Poetry. He is remembered not only for his poetic achievements, but also for his strong sense of loyalty to his country. China, at that time, was divided into seven states, constantly at war with one another. Qu was born into a branch of the royal clan of the Chu State, located in the Eastern part of China. At that time, the most dominant of the seven states was the Qin, located in the west. The Qin State was constantly looking for ways to conquer its smaller neighbors and had its eyes on Chu. Qu served as an official under King Huai of Chu. Qu was a trusted advisor of the king and strongly advocated an alliance with other states against the larger Qin. However, the Qin had different plans. A Qin envoy, Zhang Yi, bribed several statesmen close to King Huai, ordering them to convince the king to turn against Qu. King Huai, misguided under the influence of political trickery, exiled Qu, sending him to the Northeastern part of modern day Hunan Province. Thus, the king had lost his number one advisor, and would soon pay the consequences. Not long after Qu was exiled, the Chu State once again fell prey to the Qin's trickery. Under the pretense of peace, the Qin captured King Huai, holding him in captivity until his death. In the coming years, the Qin conquered the Chu capital, leaving the Chu state in shambles. Hearing the news of Chu's downfall, Qu, still in exile, drowned himself in the Miluo River in a gesture of grief, frustration, and protest. Before he died, he left the poem "Lament for Yin." How long can one man's lifetime last? In the end we return to formlessness. I think of you waiting to die. A thousand things cause me distress Like other poets in Chinese history, Qu wrote some of his greatest works during his period of exile. In one of his greatest achievements, Qu annotated, edited, and contributed to the Verses of Chu, a large poetic collection which is one of the earliest collections of Chinese literature in history. Qu has since become a symbol for Chinese patriotism. Qu spoke out for the genuine good of his country and its people, eventually giving up his life when his country had fallen. The legacy of this patriotic poet lives on to today. Legend has it, that when Qu drowned himself in the waters of Miluo, local villagers and friends all came to save him, rowing boats into the middle of the river. They beat drums to keep the evil spirits away and even threw rice wrapped in leaves into the river as an offering to Qu's spirit. The wrapped rice has since became known as the famous Chinese food, Zong Zi, and the act of rowing boats in the river has been commemorated by the tradition of dragon boat racing. Every year, on the Duan Wu festival, Chinese people all over the world eat Zong Zi and race dragon boats, remembering the famous poet Qu Yuan, and what he stood for.