Qu Yuan

Qu Yuan's Names
Simplified Chinese: 屈原
Traditional Chinese: 屈原
Pinyin: Qū Yuán
Family name: Qu
Traditional Chinese: 屈
Simplified Chinese: 屈
Given name: Ping
Traditional Chinese: 平
Simplified Chinese: 平
Courtesy name (字): Yuan
Traditional Chinese: 原
Simplified Chinese: 原
Alias Given name (自名): Zhengze
Traditional Chinese: 正則
Simplified Chinese: 正则
Alias Courtesy name (别字): Lingjun
Traditional Chinese: 霛均
Simplified Chinese: 灵均


Qu Yuan (340-278 B.C.) was born in the State of Chu, in what is present-day Zigui County, Hubei Province. He lived during the late Warring States Period (475-221 B.C.) of political chaos shortly before Emperor Qin Shihuang unified China. Qu Yuan’s academic excellence earned him a place in the court of King Huai. Before long his eloquence and state administrative skills brought him a promotion to the position of Zuotu -- deputy prime minister, a position he used to carry out much needed reforms to the State of Chu’s domestic and foreign affairs.

Unappreciated Statesmanship

Qu Yuan was an advocate of strengthened law enforcement and a lighter burden of taxes on the common people, and also called for reforms in the imperial court. He deplored the practice of selecting leaders on the basis of privileged background rather than merit, as it imperiled the state’s prosperity and hobbled its military might. In order to protect the Chu Kingdom from overt aggression from the State of Qin, Qu Yuan effected an alliance with the State of Qi. Under his wise guidance, the State of Chu became a power to reckon with among the warring states. But it was not long before his open contempt for avaricious nobles and corrupt officials made him the target of slander and attack. Prime Minister Ling Yin and fellow Deputy Prime Minister Jin Shang repeatedly spoke ill of him to the monarch. Their Machiavellian machinations resulted in Qu Yuan’s demotion to the post of Lord of the Three Clans, one that deprived him of the right to participate in court administration and fundamental policymaking.

Chu’s domestic and foreign affairs then entered a period of crisis. Zhang Yi, an envoy from the State of Qin, bribed Deputy Prime Minister Jin Shang and King Huai’s favorite concubine to undermine and eventually break the Chu-Qi alliance. The pair was responsible for the State of Chu’s defeat in several battles against the Qin armies. King Huai, unaware of the skullduggery in his court, made an alliance with the State of Qin and banished Qu Yuan from the capital to a remote exile. When, a few years later, the Qin-Chu alliance ended, King Huai called Qu Yuan back to the capital, but his post of Lord of the Three Clans gave Qu Yuan no say in national policy making. Soon after, the King of Qin invited King Huai of Chu to discuss another alliance, with the underlying aim of capturing him. Qu Yuan saw through the Qin scheme, and risked his life trying to stop the king from going to the meeting, but failed. King Huai was held in custody, and later died in the State of Qin. His successor was weak and incompetent. He continued the policy of compromise and conciliation and sought to cement the alliance by marrying a Qin princess. Qu Yuan strongly opposed this move but was unable to prevent it as treacherous officials obstructed him and were instrumental in his being exiled a second time to an even more remote outpost.

While Qu Yuan was in exile the State of Chu weakened day by day. The State of Qin continued to expand its territory and threaten Chu until Qin troops eventually invaded Chu in 280 B.C. and marched toward its capital. All Qu Yuan could do was grieve at this disaster and express his sorrow in poetry. He considered leaving Chu, but his love for it and the people prevented him.

One of the poems in the classic anthology, Poetry of the South, tells of a meeting in Hunan between a fisherman and a desperately sad old man at a lakeshore.

The fisherman asked: “Are you not Lord of the Three Clans Qu Yuan? What has brought you to such a pass?”

Qu Yuan answered, “When all the world in mud has sunk, alone I’m clean. When all the people are drunk, sober I’m seen. How can I not get banished?”

The fisherman said, “A wise man will not stick to any climes, but should adapt himself to the times. If all others are dire, why not wallow with them in mud and mire? If all the men are drunk, why should you from liquor have shrunk? If you should above others rise, can you not get exiled? Can you think yourself wise?”

Qu Yuan replied, “I have heard it said: After you wash your hair, you should keep your hat fair. After a bath, nonetheless you should keep clean your dress. How could I darken my mind bright, and blacken my skin white? In the Xiangjiang River I would rather wish to bury myself in the belly of the fish, than spoil my spotless purity with dirt and dust of vulgarity.”

The fisherman, having nothing more to say, faintly smiled and sang as he paddled away: “When the river is clear, oh! I’ll wash my headdress here. When water is not neat, oh! I may wash here my feet.” The two so separated.


An Act of Anguish
In 278 B.C. Qin general Bai Qi and his troops captured the Chu capital Ying, and destroyed the royal mausoleum. The king of Chu fled in panic. The once flourishing capital was devastated, its people made homeless and destitute. Qu Yuan was heartbroken at his state’s defeat and could not bear to live on as citizen of a conquered state. After having been banished for more than a decade, he wrote a poem entitled Longing for Changsha, after which he completely lost hope. It reads,


All mortals live and die,
Ordained by Heaven high, oh!
My heart is calm and broad my mind.
Of what am I afraid behind? Oh!


Long grieved, I vent my discontent;
Sighing, I oft lament, oh!
To me the world is foul and cold;
The heart of man cannot be told, oh!


I know that none can avoid death.
Why should I grudge my breath? Oh!
I declare to those I revere,
I will take you as my compeer, oh!


On the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, Qu Yuan committed suicide by throwing himself into the Miluo River, a tributary of the Xiangjiang River in Hunan Province, holding a boulder to make sure he sank. It was his last protest against the dark and evil forces that had prevented him from saving his home from destruction.

Upon hearing he had jumped into the river, nearby villagers and fishermen ran to his rescue. They jumped into boats and rowed along the Miluo River to the vast Dongting Lake, but could not find him. They tempted fish and shrimps away from devouring Qu Yuan’s body by making small packages of glutinous rice wrapped in reeds and throwing them into the river . Qu Yuan’s corpse was eventually found in a place called Luoyuan. The people buried him on a hill by the Miluo River and held a grand funeral. A memorial temple to him was later built and erected in front of it. In their eyes, Qu Yuan was a wise and just official who loved his state and people.

It became the custom on the fifth day of each fifth lunar month for people from various towns and villages to gather at the Miluo River to commemorate Qu Yuan. They made the dish originally concocted to preserve his body known as zongzi -- pyramid-shaped dumplings made of glutinous rice wrapped in reed leaves -- and held dragon boat races.

Later, these commemorative activities expanded to the hanging of calamus and Chinese mugwort on gates and doors. The two herbs are traditional Chinese medicine ingredients that repel mosquitoes, flies and other harmful insects. The common people hung them out on the anniversary of Qu Yuan’s death in memory of his attempts to combat the treacherous officials that persecuted him, and to prevent the future evil designs of such despicable characters. This custom is called “cutting a section of calamus for a sword, and a section of Chinese mugwort for a whip.” Sprinkling realgar wine and burning realgar have similar significance, as ancients believed that realgar was poisonous to venomous creatures.

The fifth day of the fifth lunar month has since become a national festival known as the “Duanwu” or “Duanyang Festival. It commemorates the outstanding statesman and poet Qu Yuan, whose works have their place in the Chinese and world canon of literature. Qu Yuan was named a famous man of letters of the world in the early 1950s.


A Poetic Soul

Qu Yuan was an outstanding statesman impeded by a fatuous monarch and persecuted by treacherous ministers who forced him out of the political arena. But his extraordinary poetry made him a bright star among ancient Chinese poets.

Sima Qian, China’s first historian, who lived more than 2,000 years ago, wrote in his biography of Qu Yuan, “It was Qu Yuan’s exile from the capital that made it possible for him to compose the poem Sorrow After Departure.” It was indeed Qu Yuan’s decade-long exile that enabled him to make the transition from high-ranking official to common citizen, and from politics to poetry. All of Qu Yuan’s poems were created after his demotion and during exile, which is what gives them their distinctly tragic quality. His poetry is outstanding literature and of great historical, philosophical and aesthetic value, as it gives a detailed account of the political struggles and social issues of his age.

Qu Yuan’s most representative of his 23 (or 25 - there is dispute as to the exact number) poems are Sorrow After Departure, Asking Heaven, The Nine Songs, The Nine Elegies, and Requiem.

Sorrow After Departure is the most significant of Qu Yuan’s works, and also the longest ancient Chinese classic poem. Its 2,477 characters in 373 verses constitute an autobiography that is peppered with metaphors and analogies. The poem exposes the darkness and decrepitude of the ruling clique, its wickedness, greed, lewdness, and brutality. Qu Yuan also evokes the image of an upright patriot who upholds justice, seeks truth, braves hardship and persecution, and loves his country and people. Patriotism and love for his people are thus expressed in his writing, as well as his anguish and sorrow at being prevented from realizing his political ideals.

The Nine Elegies, consisting of nine parts, are a record of Qu Yuan’s life and emotions. They give insight into Qu Yuan’s experiences and ideology.

Asking Heaven is a unique poem, even in terms of historic Chinese literature. It is distinct for its form of artistic expression and its revelation of the poet’s great imagination and learning. In it, the 173 questions he asks about heaven, earth, the gods and humanity display his knowledge of astronomy, geography, history, philosophy, and religions. These questions express and seek answers to his skepticism about ancient legends, natural phenomena, the rise and decline of dynasties and retribution. Today, in the 21st century, there are still no rational answers to many of the questions he raises.

Qu Yuan’s rich legacy thus lives on in the food for thought he leaves for the learned of today to ponder.

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