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Transcendent Group of 10 Friends 仙宗十友 1

Xianzong Shiyou were ten poets more or less associated around 700 CE; Sima Chengzheng (see #1) was more or less at the center. Their connection is mentioned in QSDQ, Folio 17, #41.

  1. 司馬承正 Sima Chengzheng (647 - 735)

  2. 李白     Li Bai (ca 705 - 762)

  3. 孟浩然 Meng Haoran (689 - 740)
    Meng Haoran (Bio/1616, ICTCL,
    Wiki, etc.) was one of China's most noted poets. A native of Xiangyang, he spent most of his life in the mountains near the city and wrote extensively about them. Ronald Egan, Controversy, p.53, says "Meng Haoran and Li Bo further promoted the cultivation of a special literati affiliation with (the qin)." Relevant references include:

    1. An online translation of Thinking of Xin in South Pavilion on a Summer's Day (mentions the qin)
    2. QSDQ, Folio 19B, #30 (seems to be the only Meng Haoran poem in QSDQ)
    3. His Poem Presented to Cen Liao the Daoist (refers to qin studs)
    4. A poem referenced under Song of a Fisherman

  4. 王維     Wang Wei (701 - 761)

  5. 陸藏用 Lu Cangyong (ca. 660 - ca. 714)

  6. 陳子昂 Chen Zi'ang (661 - 702; Wiki)
    Chen Zi'ang (42618.40), according to ICTCL, p.236, "was among the first poets in the Tang dynasty to openly express discontent over the effeteness of contemporary poetry and to advocate a return to the seriousness of of the Han-Wei style." Ibid, p.237 says, "His poetic reputation rests mainly on his cycle of thirty-eight poems entitled "Gan-yu" 感遇 (Stirred by My Experiences)" (see in Chinese Wiki). A friend of Lu Cangyong and Zhao Yuan, he has several connections to the qin. Some say he wrote 平沙落雁 Pingsha Luo Yan. A story about him and a qin is told in QSDQ, Folio 17, #50, but it may concern a huqin fiddle.

  7. 宋之問 Song Zhiwen (d. 712; ICTCL p.677)
    See
    Yao Tian Sheng He, Shen Quanqi, a poem and lyrics for Lüzhu Yin

  8. 王適     Wang Shi 2
    Wang Shi (21295.1691), from 幽州 You Zhou, achieved the official rank of 司功參軍 Personnel Manager in Administration.

  9. 畢構     Bi Gou 3
    Bi Gou (22349.11; Bio/516), style name 產擇 Chanzhai (or Chenze), was from 偃師 Yanshi.

  10. 賀知章 He Zhizhang (659 - 744)
    He Zhizhang (37569.42 has a picture; Bio/1813), style name 季真 Jizhen, was from 越州永興 Yongxing in Yuezhou (Zhejiang province). He gave himself the nicknames 四明狂客 Siming Kuangke and 秘書外監 Mishu Waijian.
    Du Fu named him one of the "Eight Immortals of the Winecup". Further information is available online. (See, e.g., some translated poems).

 
Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1. 391.81 仙宗十友 Xianzong Shiyou (1/xxx) refers to 海錄碎事,人事,朋友 then simply lists them as Sima Chengzhen and the others, adding 出本傳. No translations for xianzong, which literally means something like Transcendent Sect.
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2. 王適 can also be pronounced "Wang Kuo". I have not found any English language references that indicate the correct pronunciation. Bio/113 王適 mentions only a person of the same name in the Ming dynasty
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3. NFI yet.
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