Pi Rixiu (c. 834–883; one date gives his birth as 830) was a Tang-dynasty poet and writer. His courtesy names were Yishao (逸少) and, later, Ximei (襲美); his sobriquets included 間氣布衣, 鹿門子, 醉吟先生, 醉民, and 醉士. He was associated with Xiangyang, although Kuaiji and Jingling are also given as places of origin.
Life
Born into poverty, he studied diligently while living in seclusion on Mount Lumen near Xiangyang. He travelled south across Lake Dongting, climbed Mount Lu, and passed through Jiying and Fandeng before entering Blue Pass, covering more than 20,000 li. In 866 he went to the capital for the jinshi examination but failed, withdrawing to Lumen or Shouzhou, where he compiled his poems and prose as 《皮子文藪》; on his second attempt in 867, he passed at the bottom of the list, and his examination record also includes the policy examination known as shece.
After passing, in 869 he was engaged by Cui Pu, the governor of Suzhou, as a military judge or prefectural retainer; he met Lu Guimeng, exchanged poems with him, and the pair became known as Pi-Lu. He later served at court as Zhuzuo lang (also given as Zhuzuo zuolang) and Taichang boshi; in 875 he became Deputy of Piling, an office also listed as jiedu fu shi.
After Huang Chao’s forces entered the Jiangnan region, Pi was compelled to join the army; in the twelfth month of 880, Huang Chao entered Chang’an, proclaimed himself emperor, and appointed Pi a Hanlin academician. After Huang Chao’s defeat, Pi’s fate remained uncertain: he was said to have been killed by Huang Chao, killed by the Tang court, to have died of illness while wandering in the south, to have lived as an exile in Suzhou, or to have ended his life in Wuyue under Qian Liu; another account says that he escaped the Guangming troubles, moved his registered home to Kuaiji, ended his life under the Qian family, and was posthumously granted the title Minister of Rites. His son was Pi Guangye (877–943).
Literary achievement
His early poems and prose attacked the abuses of his time and expressed sympathy for the people’s hardships. The ten pieces of 《正樂府》 in 《文藪》 continued Bai Juyi’s 《新樂府》 and were especially noted for their criticism of abuses and satirical admonition; his miscellaneous imitations were also judged not inferior to those of Han Yu and Meng Jiao. His poetry was traced to Wang Ji and Wang Jian and ultimately to the songs and ballads of Han and Wei yuefu. It cultivated a spare, unadorned, satirical manner with a reclusive air, though critics also found it overly explicit and visibly schematic.
His poetic exchanges with Lu Guimeng were compiled as the ten-volume 《松陵唱和集》, and the two men were known as Pi-Lu. Some critics praised their exchange poetry as distinctive, especially the 《太湖》 pieces for their bold talent and strikingly brilliant lines, and admired the elevated resonance and archaic flavor beyond the words. Others criticized Pi and Lu’s regulated verse for chasing novelty and piling up description, said that they used concrete detail without mastering its poetic transformation, and found it close to Song-dynasty mannerisms and prone to verbal fixation; one critic even called it aesthetically bad and rejected treating it as clever craft.
Works and transmission
Among his writings, the ten-volume 《皮子文藪》 and ten-volume 《松陵唱和集》 have survived; the seven-volume 《胥臺集》, ten-volume 《皮日休集》, one-volume 《詩》, and ninety-volume 《皮氏鹿門家鈔》—also written 《皮氏鹿門家紗》—are lost. 《全唐詩》 preserves nine volumes of his poems, while 《全唐詩外編》 and 《全唐詩續拾》 add nine poems; a relatively complete collated edition of 《皮子文藪》 is available.
References
- CBDB Pi Rixiu (3702)
- 搜韵 皮日休 (18853)
- Wikidata Pi Rixiu (Q855797)