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Qu Yuan Quotes

Qu Yuan was a Chinese poet and politician who lived during the Warring States period. He is known for his patriotism and contributions to classical poetry and verses, especially through the poems of the Chu Ci anthology : a volume of poems attributed to or considered to be inspired by his verse writing. Together with the Shi Jing, the Chu Ci is one of the two greatest collections of ancient Chinese verse. He is also remembered in connection to the supposed origin of the Dragon Boat Festival.

Historical details about Qu Yuan's life are few, and his authorship of many Chu Ci poems has been questioned at length. However, he is widely accepted to have written Li Sao, the most well-known of the Chu Ci poems. The first known reference to Qu Yuan appears in a poem written in 174 BC by Jia Yi, an official from Luoyang who was slandered by jealous officials and banished to Changsha by Emperor Wen of Han. While traveling, he wrote a poem describing the similar fate of a previous "Qu Yuan." Eighty years later, the first known biography of Qu Yuan's life appeared in Han dynasty historian Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian, though it contains a number of contradictory details. Wikipedia  

✵ 343 BC – 278 BC
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Qu Yuan: 7   quotes 0   likes

Famous Qu Yuan Quotes

“How well I know that loyalty brings disaster.”

Qu Yuan

Source: "Encountering Sorrow" (trans. David Hawkes), Line 21

“For the world is impure and envious of the able,
And eager to hide men's good and make much of their ill.”

Qu Yuan

Source: "Encountering Sorrow" (trans. David Hawkes), Line 127

“The muddy, impure world, so undiscriminating,
Seeks always to hide beauty, out of jealousy.”

Qu Yuan

Source: "Encountering Sorrow" (trans. David Hawkes), Line 107

“Enough! There are no true men in the state: no one to understand me.
Why should I cleave to the city of my birth?
Since none is worthy to work with in making good government,
I will go and join Peng Xian in the place where he abides.”

Qu Yuan

Source: "Encountering Sorrow" (trans. David Hawkes), Lines 186–188

“O Soul go not to the West
Where level wastes of sand stretch on and on;
And demons rage, swine-headed, hairy-skinned,
With bulging eyes;
Who in wild laughter gnash projecting fangs.
O Soul go not to the West
Where many perils wait!”

Qu Yuan

Source: "The Great Summons" (trans. Arthur Waley), Lines 27–33

“The fools enjoy their careless pleasure,
But their way is dark and leads to danger.”

Qu Yuan

Source: "Encountering Sorrow" (trans. David Hawkes), Line 17

“O Soul come back to watch the birds in flight!
He who has found such manifold delights
Shall feel his cheeks aglow
And the blood-spirit dancing through his limbs.”

Qu Yuan

Source: "The Great Summons" (trans. Arthur Waley), Lines 144–147

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