The story goes that late in life he dreamed a man came to take back a five-coloured brush he had once lent him, and after that Jiang Yan wrote nothing good. That is the origin of
江郎才尽 and of the "brush of talent" in
彩笔. His 《
别赋》 (Rhapsody on Parting) gave the phrase
黯然销魂, heartbroken at a parting.
