Qu Yuan (about 340-278 BC) was a poet and politician of Chu State during the Warring States Period in China. Born in Zigui, Danyang, Chu (now Yichang, Hubei). Qu Yuan is the first great patriotic poet in the history of China and the founder of China's romantic literature.
As a great poet, the appearance of Qu Yuan not only marks that China's poetry has entered a new era from collective singing to individual originality, but also his new poetic style-Chu Ci, which broke through the expression form of The Book of Songs, greatly enriched the expressive force of poetry and opened up a new world for China's ancient poetry creation.
Therefore, later generations called the "national style" in the Songs of Chu and the Book of Songs "Sao". "Feng" and "Sao" are the sources of the two fine traditions of realism and romanticism in the history of China's poetry. At the same time, Chu Ci, represented by Qu Yuan, also influenced the formation of Han Fu.
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After the Chu people established Guanzhong, the capital of the Han Dynasty, Qu Yuan's works had a great influence. With the continuous study and development of Songs of the South, the literature in the north has gradually become Chu. The new five-character poems and seven-character poems are all related to Chu Sao. Fu writers in Han Dynasty were all influenced by Chu Ci. After the Han Dynasty, works of "Shao Sao" appeared in all previous dynasties. The author often uses Qu Yuan's poems to express his own obstacles, and even uses Qu Yuan's experience as a metaphor, which is the direct development of Qu Yuan's literature.
In addition, there are poems, songs, lyrics, songs, dramas, Qin lyrics, Daqu, scripts and so on. Take the life story of Qu Yuan as the theme, such as The Portrait of Qu Yuan, Nine Songs, Nine Tweens, etc. It is also difficult to count.
Therefore, Lu Xun called Qu Yuan's works "outstanding" and "its influence on later articles is even above 300 in The Book of Songs" (Outline of China Literature History). Guo Moruo, a famous poet, once wrote Ode to Thunder and Electricity for him to commemorate his deeds.
Baidu Encyclopedia-Qu Yuan