Tang poet who spent over twenty years in remote posts after a failed court reform; 白居易 called him a hero of poetry. Pupils learn his short 陋室铭, 'Inscription for a Humble Room'.
When he was posted to remote 播州 in 815, his friend 柳宗元 asked to go there in his place, since 刘禹锡's mother was old; he was sent to Lianzhou instead. The idiom 司空见惯, 'commonplace', comes from one of his poems.
culture
Lines of his still in common use include 沉舟侧畔千帆过 'beside the sunken boat a thousand sails go by', written in reply to Bai Juyi, and 旧时王谢堂前燕 from 《乌衣巷》, on the faded glory of great families.
