Poetry

Qian Qi's poems as collected in Three Hundred Tang Poems were translated by Witter Bynner as:

• "Farewell to a Japanese Buddhist Priest Bound Homeward"

• "From my Study at the Mouth of the Valley. a Message to Censor Yang"

• "To my Friend at the Capital Secretary Pei"

Part of one of Qian Qi's poems was used by Gustav Mahler for the second movement, "Der Einsame im Herbst" (The Lonely Soul of Autumn), in his Das Lied von der Erde. He is credited under the name Chang Tsi as the author of the original Chinese text. The lyrics lament the dying of flowers and the passing of beauty. Other Tang poets whose works Mahler drew upon for this piece were Li Bai, Wang Wei, and Meng Haoran.

Biography

Qian Qi flourished in the Wu region of China (modern day Zhejiang and Hubei provinces).

生平

錢起，初為秘書省校書郎、藍田縣尉，後任司勛員外郎、考功郎中、翰林學士等。曾任考功郎中，故世稱「錢考功」，與韓翃、李端、盧綸等號稱「大曆十才子」。錢起長于五言，詞彩清麗，音律和諧。因與郎士元齊名，齊名「錢郎」。人為之語曰：「前有沈宋，後有錢郎。」對此，錢起很不滿意，傲然說道：「郎士元安得與余並稱也？」但是，朝廷公卿出牧奉使，若無錢、郎賦詩送別，則為時論所鄙。錢起詩作的題材多偏重于描寫景物和投贈應酬。音律諧婉，時有佳句。

錢起當時詩名很盛，其詩多為贈別應酬，流連光景、粉飾太平之作，與社會現實相距較遠。然其詩具有較高的藝術水平，風格清空閒雅、流麗纖秀，尤長于寫景，為大曆詩風的傑出代表。

少數作品感時傷亂，同情農民疾苦。以《省試湘靈鼓瑟》詩最為有名。有《錢考功集》，集中五絕《江行無題一百首》及若干篇章，為其曾孫錢珝所作。

外部鏈接