Song Zhiwen

Song Zhiwen (simplified Chinese: 宋之问; traditional Chinese: 宋之問; c. 660–712)also known by his courtesy name of Yanqing (Chinese: 延清, pinyin: Yánqīng), was a Chinese poet considered to be of the Tang poetry tradition of the Tang Dynasty, although technically his poetic career was largely within the anomalous dynastic interregnum of Wu Zetian. Together with Shen Quanqi, Song Zhiwen is considered to have the "credit for the final perfection" of the "new style" poetry of regulated verse (jintishi) which was one of the most critical poetic developments of the early Tang poets, and much followed as a style which inspired future generations of poets.

Poetry

Song Zhiwen was particularly known for his five-character-regular-verse, or wujue, one of which is included in the famous poetry anthology Three Hundred Tang Poems.

As an outstanding court poet in Early Tang dynasty, Song Zhiwen's poems are famous for his regulated verse which are regarded as lüshi, including heptasyllabic songs. His early opuses focus on court life and imperially assigned poems. Later, he prefers to write landscapes and inner embitterment feelings due to exile. His most famous poems are "度大庾岭"（A.D.705） and "渡汉江" (Crossing the Han River, A.D.706). Actually, he rather creates court poems than other topics when he stays in the royal circle, while composing lyrics instead when he is banished from the capital.