Three Kingdoms and Six Dynasties · Poet and Aristocrat

Xie Lingyun 謝靈運

Attested AD 385 - AD 453

Passages: 20
Chapters: 9
Histories: 5

Overview

Xie Lingyun was a Poet and Aristocrat.

Other names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Childhood name	Ke'er	客兒	Kè'ér
Alternate name	A-Ke	阿客	Ā Kè

Life and dates

Attested activity

AD 424 to AD 453 元嘉中
Directly stated · Book of Southern Qi 36, passage 5
AD 385 to AD 433 宋有謝靈運
Strongly inferred · Book of Wei 91, passage 196
AD 397 to AD 412 時混族子靈運在坐，退告族兄瞻曰：
Directly stated · Book of Song 62, passage 16
AD 421 永初二年 biographical context
Dated from the passage context · Book of Song 56, passages 19, 27
AD 405 義熙初
Dated from the passage context · Book of Song 58, passage 35
AD 385 to AD 433 謝靈運
Strongly inferred · Book of Song 73, passage 311

Show 2 more source-backed claims

AD 385 to AD 433 謝靈運《山家詩》
Strongly inferred · Book of Liang 25, passage 241
AD 420 to AD 433 謝靈運《晉書》
Directly stated · Book of Liang 52, passage 12

Family

Immediate relationships attested in the translated histories.

Kin of Xie Hun (謝混)
clansman uncle 族叔
Strongly inferred · Book of Song 56, passages 27, 30
Parent of Xie Feng (謝鳳)
grandfather 祖 · paternal line
Strongly inferred · Book of Southern Qi 36, passages 4-5
Ancestor of Xie Chaozong (謝超宗)
grandfather 祖 · paternal line · 2 generations
Directly stated · Book of Southern Qi 36, passage 4
Child of Xie Ying (謝瑛)
father 父
Directly stated · Book of Song 56, passage 28
Kin of Xie Zhan (謝瞻)
younger clansman 族弟
Directly stated · Book of Song 56, passage 27

Key source chapters

Career and standing

Song governor of Linchuan 宋臨川內史
Held
Directly stated · Book of Southern Qi 36, passage 4

Places and affiliations

Polity Liu Song 劉宋 · Relation Associated with
Strongly inferred · Book of Liang 25, passage 241
Polity Id liu-song · Relation Active under
Directly stated · Book of Wei 91, passage 196
Polity Id liu-song · Relation Served
Directly stated · Book of Southern Qi 36, passage 4
At Chen 陳郡
Directly stated · Book of Song 73, passage 311

Learning and skills

Skill literary composition 文章 · Level rivaled Xie Zhan
Directly stated · Book of Song 56, passage 27

Works and attributed material

Mountain Dwelling Poem 山家詩
Directly stated · Book of Liang 25, passage 241
Jin History, Biography of Knowing When to Stop 晉書·止足傳
Relation Author
Directly stated · Book of Liang 52, passage 12
Mountain Dwelling Poem 山家詩
Relation Author
Directly stated · Book of Liang 25, passage 241
Mountain Dwelling Poem 山家詩
Poem · Author · Direct quotation · Mode quotation Speaker Xie Lingyun (謝靈運)
Directly stated · Book of Liang 25, passage 241
Speech · Speaker · With Xie Zhan (謝瞻) · Direct quotation · Mode quoted-speech Speaker Xie Lingyun (謝靈運)
Directly stated · Book of Song 62, passage 16

Events and relationships

Ceased his habit of judging people after Xie Zhan's rebuke
Social · With Xie Zhan (謝瞻)
Directly stated · Book of Song 56, passages 33-34

Assessments and attributes

Loved to pass judgment on people's merits and faults.
Character
Directly stated · Book of Song 56, passage 30

Source notes

Historicity historical
Directly stated · Book of Wei 91, passage 196

References in the histories

Search passages

History

20 passages

Book of Northern Qi, Chapter 3Volume 3 Annals 3: Emperor Wenxiang · 1 passage

東魏主不堪憂辱，詠謝靈運詩曰：「韓亡子房奮，秦帝魯連恥。 Unable to bear the anguish and humiliation, the Eastern Wei emperor recited a poem of Xie Lingyun: "When Han perished Zhang Liang rose in zeal; before the Qin emperor Lu Zhong felt shame.

Book of Liang, Chapter 25Volume 25: Zhou She; Xu Mian · 1 passage

憶謝靈運《山家詩》云：「中爲天地物，今成鄙夫有。」 I remember Xie Lingyun's "Mountain Dwelling Poem": "What was once Heaven and Earth's now belongs to a common man."

Book of Liang, Chapter 52Volume 52: The Self-Sufficient · 1 passage

謝靈運《晉書·止足傳》，先論晉世文士之避亂者，殆非其人； Xie Lingyun's Jin History "Biography of Knowing When to Stop" discusses literary men fleeing disorder—hardly the right men;

Book of Southern Qi, Chapter 36Volume 36 Biographies 17: Xie Chaozong, Liu Xiang · 3 passages

祖靈運，宋臨川內史。 His grandfather Lingyun had been Song governor of Linchuan.

父鳳，元嘉中坐靈運事，同徙嶺南，早卒。 His father Feng, in the Yuanjia era was exiled to Lingnan with Lingyun and died young.

曰：「超宗殊有鳳毛，恐靈運復出。」 He said: "Chaozong truly has phoenix plumage — I fear Lingyun has been reborn."

Book of Song, Chapter 56Volume 56 Biographies 16: Xie Zhan, Kong Linzhi · 6 passages

瞻善於文章，辭采之美，與族叔混、族弟靈運相抗。 Zhan was a gifted writer; the brilliance of his style rivaled that of his clansman Hun and his younger kinsman Lingyun.

靈運父瑛，無才能。 Lingyun's father Ying was a man of no particular talent.

靈運好臧否人物，混患之，欲加裁折，未有方也。 Lingyun loved to pass judgment on other people's merits and faults; Hun found this troubling and wanted to rein him in, but had not yet found a way.

乃與晦、曜、弘微等共遊戲，使瞻與靈運共車； He then arranged outings with Hui, Yao, Hongwei, and the others and had Zhan share a carriage with Lingyun.

靈運登車，便商較人物，瞻謂之曰：「秘書早亡，談者亦互有同異。」 The moment Lingyun got into the carriage he began ranking people's merits and faults. Zhan said to him, "The secretary gentleman died young, and even those who speak of him disagree among themselves."

靈運默然，言論自此衰止。 Lingyun fell silent, and from that day his habit of judging others faded away.

Book of Song, Chapter 58Volume 58 Biographies 18: Wang Hui, Xie Hongwei, Wang Qiu · 5 passages

混風格高峻，少所交納，唯與族子靈運、瞻、曜、弘微並以文義賞會。 Hun's bearing was lofty and austere; he admitted few companions, and shared literary fellowship only with his kinsmen Lingyun, Zhan, Yao, and Hongwei.

阿客博而無檢； A-Ke is learned but unrestrained;

嘗因酣宴之餘，為韻語以獎勸靈運、瞻等曰：「康樂誕通度，實有名家韻，若加繩染功，剖瑩乃瓊瑾。 Once, over wine after a feast, he composed rhymed verses to encourage and warn Lingyun, Zhan, and the rest: "Kangle is born with breadth of mind and truly bears a great family's tone; add the finishing discipline, and the polished core within will prove jade.

靈運等並有誡厲之言，唯弘微獨盡褒美。 Lingyun and the others each received admonition and warning; Hongwei alone was praised without reserve.

靈運小名客兒。 Lingyun's childhood name was Ke'er, "Guest Boy."

Book of Song, Chapter 62Volume 62 Biographies 22: Yang Xin, Zhang Fu, Wang Wei · 1 passage

時混族子靈運在坐，退告族兄瞻曰：「望蔡見羊欣，遂易衣改席。」 Xie Lingyun, a kinsman of Hun's, was present; afterward he told his elder kinsman Zhan, "When Wangcai received Yang Xin, he changed his clothes and brushed the mat."

Book of Song, Chapter 73Volume 73 Biographies 33: Yan Yanzhi · 1 passage

延之與陳郡謝靈運俱以詞彩齊名，自潘岳、陸機之後，文士莫及也，江左稱顏、謝焉。 Yanzhi and Xie Lingyun of Chen were equally famed for literary brilliance; since Pan Yue and Lu Ji, no writer had matched them—the south spoke of Yan and Xie.

Book of Wei, Chapter 91Volume 85: Men of Letters: Yuan Yue, Pei Jingxian, Lu Guan, Feng Su, Xing Cang, Pei Bomao, Xing Xin · 1 passage

濟陰王暉業嘗云：「江左文人，宋有顏延之、謝靈運，梁有沈約、任昉，我子昇足以陵顏轢謝，含任吐沈。」 Prince Huiye of Jiyin once said, "Among literati south of the Yangtze, Song had Yan Yanzhi and Xie Lingyun, Liang had Shen Yue and Ren Fang; our Zisheng is enough to stride over Yan and trample Xie, encompass Ren and surpass Shen."