One of the 唐宋八大家, who wrote his finest landscape essays and poems in exile in the south. Pupils learn his poem 江雪 and the fable of the Guizhou donkey that gave the idiom 黔驴技穷.
Liǔ Zōngyuán bèi biǎn Yǒngzhōu shí xiěxià le 《 Jiāngxuě 》.
Liu Zongyuan wrote 'River Snow' while he was in exile in Yongzhou.
Tips
history
After the failed reform of 805 he was sent to 永州, in today's Hunan, for ten years, then to 柳州, where he died, so he is also called 柳柳州. The landscape essays of his exile, the 《永州八记》, are classics of Chinese prose.
culture
With 韩愈 he led the 古文运动, the move back to plain classical prose, and the pair are known as 韩柳, "Han and Liu". In 黔驴技穷, 'the Guizhou donkey has used up its tricks', 黔 is still Guizhou's one-character short name.
