Jiang Yan (; 444 – 505), courtesy name Wentong (文通), 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 ...

and '' fu'' writer during the

Northern and Southern dynasties The Northern and Southern dynasties () was a period of political division in the history of China that lasted from 420 to 589, following the tumultuous era of the Sixteen Kingdoms and the Eastern Jin dynasty. It is sometimes considered a ...

known for his imitation poetry, a prominent genre of the

Six Dynasties Six Dynasties (; 220–589 or 222–589) is a collective term for six Han-ruled Chinese dynasties that existed from the early 3rd century AD to the late 6th century AD, between the end of the Eastern Han dynasty and the beginning of the Sui ...

era. Jiang Yan stated that he loved the strange and different, and therefore sought new social trends and literary habits. This affected his friendships and writing style. There was a legend saying that Jiang once dreamt of returning his magic brush to

Guo Pu Guo Pu (; AD 276–324), courtesy name Jingchun (), was a Chinese historian, poet, and writer during the Eastern Jin period, and is best known as one of China's foremost commentators on ancient texts. Guo was a Taoist mystic, geomancer, collec ...

and lost his talent in writing ever since.(又尝宿于冶亭，梦一丈夫自称郭璞，谓淹曰：“吾有笔在卿处多年，可以见还。”淹乃探怀中得五色笔一以授之。尔后为诗绝无美句，时人谓之才尽。) ''Nan Shi'', vol.59. Besides Guo Pu, Jiang Yan's talent was also linked to Eastern Jin scholar Zhang Xie (courtesy name Jingyang). (淹少以文章显，晚节才思微退，云为宣城太守时罢归，始泊禅灵寺渚，夜梦一人自称张景阳，谓曰：“前以一匹锦相寄，今可见还。”淹探怀中得数尺与之，此人大恚曰：“那得割截都尽。”顾见丘迟谓曰：“馀此数尺既无所用，以遗君。”自尔淹文章踬矣。) ''Nan Shi'', vol.59. The idiom "" is therefore used for describing the situation when a creator is experiencing

writer's block Writer's block is a non-medical condition, primarily associated with writing, in which an author is either unable to produce new work or experiences a creative slowdown. Writer's block has various degrees of severity, from difficulty in coming ...

after using up all his/her talent.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jiang, Yan 444 births 505 deaths Liu Song poets Southern Qi poets Liang dynasty poets Southern Qi government officials Liang dynasty government officials Liu Song government officials 5th-century Chinese poets

See also

References