Biography

The year of his birth is not known, but he came from Nanyang (modern-day Xiuwu County, Henan Province). He attained a jinshi degree in the imperial examination in 754, and worked in various government positions including jia bu lang jung zhi zhi gao (駕部郎中知制誥 jià bù láng zhōng zhī zhì gào) and zhong shu she ren (中書舍人 zhōng shū shè rén).

Poetry

He was one of the "Ten Talents of the Dali Reign" (大曆十才子 Dàlì Shí Cáizǐ). Three of his poems were included in the Three Hundred Tang Poems. A Ming-era editor compiled an anthology of his poetry called the Han Junping Ji (韓君平集 Hán Jūnpíng-jí, literally Han Junping Anthology).

He had a strong linguistic sense and used simple vocabulary to produce highly evocative poetry. One example cited by Ueki et al. is the first part of his poem "Han Shi", which describes the capital during the Cold Food Festival, and was strongly appreciated by Emperor Dezong of Tang:

Another good example cited by Ueki et al. is the following passage from a lüshi which he sent to an associate:

This passage was highly praised by later Song Dynasty critics as an example of a farewell poem.

Portrayals in later literature

He was featured as the protagonist in Xu Yaozuo's romantic novel .

生平

天寶十三載（754年）進士。肅宗寶應元年（762年）淄青節度使侯希逸聘為其幕中從事。後又佐李希烈、李勉等節度使幕。建中初年（780年），德宗親自點名為中書舍人，並因當時有兩個韓翃，特為批示指明是詠「春城無處不飛花」的韓翃。「春城無處不飛花」出自韓翃的〈寒食〉一詩，可見其詩名之盛。在大曆十才子中，韓翃的創作成就最大，高仲武《中興間氣集》云：「韓員外詩，匠意近於史，興致繁富，一篇一詠，朝士珍之。」

韓翃有一歌妓姓柳氏，柳氏後為蕃將沙吒利所劫，侯希逸的部將許俊以計奪還歸韓翃。許堯佐將他和柳氏的戀愛故事寫成《柳氏傳》。

詩話

清朝王士禎《分甘餘話》，卷一「韓翃詩多傳禁中」條：唐韓翃以「春城無處不飛花」一詩知見九重，召知制誥，傳為佳話，世盡知之。《杜陽雜編》又載一事……（唐門）因吟曰：「鴛鴦赭白齒新齊，曉日花間散碧蹄。玉勒乍迴初噴沫，金鞭欲下不成嘶。」亦翃作也。知翃詩流聞禁中者多，不獨「寒食東風」之句而已。