贾岛 (Jiǎ Dǎo) · Jia Dao, Tang dynasty poet

Meanings

1 Jia Dao, Tang dynasty poet

About Jia Dao

779–843 · 诗人 poet

Former monk who weighed every word of his spare poems. Torn between 推 'push' and 敲 'knock' for one line, he rode into the procession of 韩愈, and the story gave 推敲, to weigh one's words.

Also called 阆仙、无本、贾长江

Characters

Examples

HSK 7-9

贾岛年轻时当过和尚。

Jiǎ Dǎo niánqīng shí dāng guo héshang.

Jia Dao was a Buddhist monk when he was young.

HSK 7-9

“推敲”这个词来自贾岛骑驴作诗的故事。

" Tuīqiāo " zhège cí láizì Jiǎ Dǎo qí lǘ zuò shī de gùshi.

The word 'tuiqiao', to weigh one's words, comes from a story about Jia Dao composing a poem on a donkey.

Tips

usage

The word his story gave is no longer only for poets: 经不起推敲 says a claim or an alibi 'does not stand up to scrutiny', and 经得起推敲 says it does.

history

He worked over every word, and once wrote that two lines had cost him three years. With 孟郊 he is summed up as 'Meng Jiao cold, Jia Dao thin', for their spare, bitter verse. The saying 十年磨一剑 and the poem 《寻隐者不遇》 are both his.