Selected Poems of Mei Yaojun

Author: (Song) Mei Yaojun
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1997-10-01
Features: Mei Yaojun (2002–1060), styled Shengyu, was a native of Xuancheng and an outstanding poet and litterateur of the Northern Song Dynasty. According to the preserved records, his creative activities began in 1031 and lasted until the year of his death, spanning a full thirty years. He left behind a collection titled Wanling Mr. Collection, comprising sixty volumes and approximately 2,900 works, including poetry, prose, and fu. Additionally, there were one poem and one ci (a type of classical Chinese poetry) not included in the collection. At the age of thirty, while serving as the county magistrate of Henan, he, together with Ouyang Xiu and Yin Zhu, launched a grand literary reform movement. Although Ouyang Xiu later gained greater fame, Yaojun undoubtedly held the leading position at the outset. Northern Song poets such as Ouyang Xiu, Wang Anshi, Liu Cheng, and Su Shi were deeply influenced by him and held him in high esteem. Ouyang Xiu, in particular, consistently referred to Yaojun as "the Poet Elder," expressing his profound admiration. We can say that Yaojun exerted a tremendous influence on the Northern Song poetic scene. Among the early Southern Song poets, the most accomplished was undoubtedly Lu You. Lu You held Mei Yaojun in the highest regard among Song Dynasty poets. In his Reading Wanling Mr. Poetry, he wrote, "Li and Du no longer compose, Mei Gong is truly magnificent! Not just bones transformed, but the very top of the head is opened. Unremitting effort in refinement, deep roots from antiquity. A lifetime like a butcher's knife, yet the remaining edge is vast." In Postscript to Wanling Collection, he further stated, "Surpassing the Yuanhe era's works, standing alone as the master, the teachings of all others fall, this old master's words now prevail. Zhao's jade is worth a city, Sui's pearls shine like the sun. Even a rough glimpse suffices, enough to console a lifetime." Lu You considered Yaojun the greatest poet after Li Bai and Du Fu, with the phrase "surpassing the Yuanhe era's works" reflecting this view. Throughout his Jiannan Poetry Draft, Lu You referred to himself as "learning the style of Wanling Mr.," "imitating the style of Wanling Mr.," eight times in total. His admiration for Yaojun was clearly not accidental. Liu Kezhuang, a poet of the late Southern Song Dynasty, referred to Yaojun as the "founder of Song poetry" in his Post Village Poetry Notes, vividly highlighting the immense influence of his works. However, after the Yuan and Ming dynasties, literary critics rarely praised Yaojun's works as highly. Among poets who studied Song poetry, there were not many to begin with, and even those who admired Song poetry generally favored Su Shi, Huang Tingjian, Yang Wanli, or Lu You. The number of those who valued Wang Anshi was already small, and even fewer paid attention to Yaojun. It was not until the late Qing Dynasty, with the rise of the Song poetry movement, that Yaojun's works gained renewed attention, and experts began to study his style. Yet, even then, his exact position among poets was not firmly established, and he had not yet received the recognition he deserved.