Chen Tao (, 824-882) was a

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

of the late

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

. He wrote four poems about war in Longxi, one of which was included in the anthology '' Three Hundred Tang Poems''. Some of his other poems were anthologized in ''Quantangshi'' (also known as, the ''Collected Tang Poems''). The poem appearing in the ''Three Hundred Tang Poems'' is the well-known verse sometimes known as "Lung-hsi Song".

Biography

Biographical information about Chen Tao seems scarce; not only that, but, A. R. Davis mentions an "element of confusion", in this regard: and, ''if'' this is the same Chen Tao mentioned in connection with Tian Lingzi in the year 888, then either this date or the date of his death is wrong. It is known that Chen Tao was learned in Buddhism and Taoism and that he pursued the study of astronomy and alchemy, and that he spent most of his life in retirement in what is now

Nanchang Nanchang is the capital of Jiangxi, China. Located in the north-central part of the province and in the hinterland of Poyang Lake Plain, it is bounded on the west by the Jiuling Mountains, and on the east by Poyang Lake. Because of its strate ...

, in the Chinese province of

Jiangxi ; Gan: ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = , translit_lang1_type3 = , translit_lang1_info3 = , image_map = Jiangxi in China (+all claims hatched).svg , mapsize = 275px , map_caption = Location ...

.Davis, xvii

Poetry

Chen Tao is best known for his one poem which is included in the '' Three Hundred Tang Poems'' (" 隴西行", ''Longxi xing''), translated as "Turkestan" by Witter Bynner.

Notes

References

*Davis, A. R., ed., Robert Kotewall and Norman L. Smith, trans. ''The Penguin Book of Chinese Verse''. Baltimore: Penguin Books (1970). *Wu, John C. H. (1972). ''The Four Seasons of Tang Poetry''. Rutland, Vermont: Charles E.Tuttle.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chen, Tao People from Nanping 824 births 882 deaths Three Hundred Tang Poems poets Poets from Fujian Writers from Fujian 9th-century Chinese poets