He Zhizhang, with the courtesy name Jizhen, self proclaimed himself as the “Four Ming Crazy Guest” and “Secretary External Supervisor” in his later years. He was a Tang Dynasty official and poet, known for his quatrains in poetry and prose. His life was smooth sailing, and he lived a long life as a high-ranking official. His literary level was also impeccable. Let’s learn about He Zhizhang’s story together with the History Encyclopedia editor.
The Tang Dynasty, a period of cultural prosperity, saw poetry as the primary form of literature, giving rise to 2536 famous poets and approximately 50000 poems. Therefore, Tang poetry has become one of the most shining pearls in the history of Chinese culture, deeply loved by people for thousands of years. Tang poetry has also become one of the most shining business cards of Chinese culture.
The poet we are here to learn about today, although not as famous as Li Bai and Du Fu, has been highly praised as the “Poet Immortal” and “Poet Saint”, among whom Li Bai is even more grateful. He was known for his poetry and prose when he was young. During the reign of Empress Wu Zetian, she became the top scholar in the imperial examination and was awarded the title of Doctor of the Four Schools of the Imperial Academy. She was later promoted to Doctor of the Imperial Academy. Afterwards, he held various positions such as Minister of Rites, Secretary Supervisor, and Crown Prince Guest. In addition, his calligraphy also reached its peak, and he is known as one of the “Four Scholars of Wuzhong” along with Zhang Ruoxu, Zhang Xu, and Bao Rong. He was the benefactor of Li Bai’s life – the poetry maniac – He Zhizhang.
He Zhizhang’s life was like hanging up, almost smooth sailing, famous, advantageous, and long-lived. Others could only envy him. He is the first recorded top scholar in the history of Zhejiang. How many people have participated in the imperial examination for a lifetime without even passing the jinshi exam, but he not only passed the jinshi exam, but also became the top scholar. After winning the top scholar, his career was smooth and he rose all the way. The most rare thing was that he lived to be 86 years old in that era.
After briefly introducing the life of Wanhe Zhizhang, let’s talk about why he was a madman among Tang Dynasty poets and why Li Bai and Du Fu highly praised him.
He Zhizhang was addicted to alcohol throughout his life, which is very compatible with Li Bai. According to legend, in the first year of the Tianbao reign of the Tang Dynasty, the poet Li Bai came to the capital city of Chang’an. He doesn’t have any friends in Chang’an, so he lives alone in a small inn. One day, he was drinking alone when an old man walked into the hotel. The old man saw Li Bai’s extraordinary demeanor and shared a table with him. As both of them were good drinkers, after three rounds of drinking, they became familiar with each other and introduced themselves. The old man did not expect that the young man in front of him was actually a young genius Li Bai, and Li Bai did not expect that the kind and respectable old man in front of him was the renowned He Zhizhang. After getting to know each other, the two continued to drink. Li Bai took out his newly created poem “The Difficulties of the Shu Road” and asked He Zhizhang to correct it. After reading it, He Zhizhang exclaimed, “It seems that you are an immortal from heaven to earth!” Therefore, Li Bai was named “Exiled Immortal”. Time passed, and before they knew it, it was getting late. The two of them dispersed, only to find that they had no money for alcohol on them. He Zhizhang quickly took off the golden turtle bag around his waist as wine money. Li Bai stopped him and said, “I can’t do it. This is an accessory given to you by the royal family according to the grade. How can I exchange it for wine?” He Zhizhang laughed up and said, “What’s that? I remember your poem, ‘When you’re proud in life, you must be happy, don’t let the golden jar be empty against the moon.'” He Zhizhang’s true feelings deeply moved Li Bai, and Li Bai and He Zhizhang became lifelong friends. Later, He Zhizhang introduced Li to Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, so He Zhizhang became a benefactor in Li Bai’s life.
In 744 AD, He Zhizhang passed away. Li Bai was grateful for He Zhizhang and wrote “Two Poems on Remembering He Jian over Wine”. The entire poem is as follows:
Two Poems on Remembering the Wine and the Supervision of the Wine – Combined Preface
Prince guest He Gong. I met at the Purple Pole Palace in Chang’an. Huyu is a banished immortal. Exchanging gold turtles for wine brings joy. Drinking after death. Writing with melancholy and nostalgia is poetry.
firstly
Siming has wild customers, and Fengliu congratulates Jizhen. When Chang’an met, he called me a banished immortal.
What used to be a good cup, now it’s Panasonic dust. At the place where the golden turtle changed wine, tears still lingered in my memory.
second
The madman returns to Siming, and the Taoist priest in Shanyin welcomes him. Imperial decree bestows Jinghu Lake water, bringing glory to Juntai Marsh.
After the death of a person, there are still lotus flowers growing in the old house. Thinking about this is like a dream, it hurts my feelings with sadness.
Li Bai did not write many poems for his friends throughout his life, but he wrote many for He Zhizhang. Although another great poet, Du Fu, had little to do with He Zhizhang, the first line in his famous poem “Drinking the Eight Immortals Song” mentioned He Zhizhang: “Zhizhang rides a horse like a boat, his eyes fall into the well and he sleeps.” In Du Fu’s mind, the only one who can compare with Li Bai in terms of alcohol tolerance is probably He Zhizhang.
Although He Zhizhang referred to himself as the “Four Bright Crazy Guest” and later called him the “Poetry Madness”, what we can see from He Zhizhang is his boldness, freedom, and true nature. As an elder, he doesn’t have the airs of an elder, and as a high-ranking official, he doesn’t have the arrogance of a high-ranking official. All he has is the support and praise for younger generations, which is already extremely rare!
