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The Tang caizi zhuan 唐才子傳 "Biographies of eminent Tang poets" is a collection of biographies of poets from the Tang 唐 (618-907) and Five Dynasties 五代 (907-960) periods. It was written by the Yuan period 元 (1279-1368) scholar Xin Wenfang 辛文房, who climbed up the ladder of official career up to vice minister. Together with Wang Zhiqian 王執謙 and Yang Zai 楊載, he is counted among the most famous Yuan period poets. He has compiled a collection of poems, the Pisha shiji 披沙詩集, which is unfortunately lost.
The Tang caizi zhuan is a very important source for the life of a lot of Tang, and especially Five Dynasties period, poets. The writers are arranged according to their assessed quality. Xin provides very detalied informations about their lives and careers and the process of state examinations. At the end of each biography the poems of each persons are rated and criticized. In these paragraphs Xin Wenfang also quotes from older sources of literary critique. Inspite of this value, the biographical information of the Tang caizi zhuan is often not correct and contradicts better historiographical sources.
The book was finished in 1304 and originally comprised 10 juan "scrolls". At the beginning of the Ming period 明 (1368-1644) it was still fully available and was included in total in the encylopedia Yongle dadian 永樂大典 under the lemma zhuan 傳 "biography". Unfortunately this part of the Yongle dadian was destroyed, but the compilers of the collectaneum Siku quanshu 四庫全書 extracted quotations from other, surviving parts of the Yongle dadian. The biographies of 287 persons (243 in the main text, plus 44 in a supplement) have thus survived and are arranged in 8 juan. A 10 juan long version preserved in Hayashi Jussai's 林述齊 Japanese collectaneum Isson sōsho 佚存叢書 includes the biographies of 278 persons in the main text and 120 in a supplement. The Japanese version was reprinted during the Qing period 清 (1644-1911) by Lu Zhirong 陸芝榮 and later reproduced in the collectaneum Zhihai 指海, which is a text-critical edition comparing this version with that in the Siku quanshu. In 1957 the Gudian wenxue press 古典文學出版社 reprinted this edition as a modern version. The Isson sōsho version was reprinted in 1992 by the Jiangsu guangling guji press 江蘇廣陵古籍刻印社, and in 2003 by the Beijing tushuguan press 北京圖書館出版社.
Source: Wang Shuizhao 王水照 (1986). "Tang caizi zhuan", in: Zhongguo da baike quanshu 中國大百科全書, Zhongguo wenxue 中國文學, vol. 2, p. 831. Beijing/Shanghai: Zhongguo da baike quanshu chubanshe.
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Exemplarious translation:
130. The Biography of Han Yu (768-824)
Han Yu - his style was Han Tuizhi - came from Nanyang (modern Henan). He became an orphan in early years and grew up in the house of his elder brother's wife, where he learned to read the old books, wrote diaries of several thousand words and learned of the Hundred Schools of philosophers. In the year 793 (Zhenyuan 8), he graduated the state examination, and he had to present his application to the ministry of rites three times before he obtained an office. Dong Jin presented a plead to give him the office of overseer of penal affairs in the military commission of Xuanwu (or Bian, modern Kaifeng). When the army of Bian rebelled (796), Han Yu submitted to Zhang Jianfeng and served in Zhang's provisory government. Later, when Han Yu served as prefectural censor, he presented a memorial to the throne about the interference of the court eunuchs in market affairs. Emperor Dezong furiously banished him to take over the post of magistrate of Yangshan (modern Guangxi). Exerting an excellent behaviour, he was moved to the post of army inspector in the prefecture of Jiangling (Hubei). During the era Yuanhe (exact: in 809), Han Yu graduated as national doctor and then became magistrate of Henan (Luoyang city). Han Yu had high abilites, like nobody else, but he had to leave his offices several times. Therefore, he wrote an essay called "How to be a successful academician" (Jinshijie), making his own career examplarious. Because some mighty people feared Han Yu's ability, he was moved to the post of secretary in the ministry of public work, later he was in charge of decretes and edicts, and then he was employed in the central secretariat. Chancellor Pei Du installed the military commando in Huaixi (Henan) and wanted Han Yu to act as "marshal of the tactical army". After the rebellious army was defeated, Han Yu was promoted to secretary in the ministry of justice. When the party of Emperor Xianzong wanted some deposit some relics of the Buddha into the palace, Han Yu protested vehemently against Buddhism. The emperor became so angry that he wanted to have him executed, but the Pei Du and Cui Qun supported Han Yu, and he was only banished to the post as prefect of Chaozhou (Guangdong). During this period, he presented a memorial by which he discribed his situation with sad and touching words and was finally removed to the post of prefect of Yuanzhou (Jiangxi). Later, he entered the palace as overseer of national offering affairs in the ministry of military affairs, then to the ministry of personnel affairs, as overseer of the capital Chang'an, and as imperial censor. He died in 824 (Changqing 4). [...The last sentences are descriptions of Han Yu's overwhelming human and literary abilites.]
Translated by Ulrich Theobald.
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Chinese literature according to the four-category system
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