Zheng Yunsou (鄭雲叟)

Overview

Zheng Yunsou was a Hermit, Poet, and Scholar.

Other names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Courtesy name	Master Xiaoyao	逍遙先生	Xiaoyao xiansheng

Life and dates

Death

AD 942 to AD 944 天福末
Natural · Age 74
Dated from the passage context · Old History of the Five Dynasties 93, passage 214
AD 939 十一月丙申
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 78, passage 179

Age

74
AD 942 to AD 944 天福末
Dated from the passage context · Old History of the Five Dynasties 93, passage 214

Attested activity

AD 939 十一月丙申
Dated from the passage context · Old History of the Five Dynasties 78, passage 179
AD 926 to AD 930 唐天成中
Dated from the passage context · Old History of the Five Dynasties 93, passage 204
AD 926 to AD 933 唐明宗廟諱
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 93, passage 192
AD 888 to AD 904 唐昭宗朝
Dated from the passage context · Old History of the Five Dynasties 93, passage 194
AD 939 天福四年三月
Dated from the passage context · Old History of the Five Dynasties 78, passage 47
AD 936 高祖即位
Dated from the passage context · Old History of the Five Dynasties 93, passages 209-210

Family

Immediate relationships attested in the translated histories.

Spouse of Wife of Zheng Yunsou (鄭雲叟妻)
wife 妻
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 93, passage 194

Kinship Role children · Quantity unspecified
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 93, passages 194, 201

Key source chapters

Career and standing

supported himself from hillside fields 以山田自給
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 93, passage 205
right remonstrance counselor 右諫議大夫
Appointed
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 78, passage 64
Remonstrance Grand Master 諫議大夫
Granted in retirement
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 93, passage 210
former right reminder 前右拾遺
Held
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 78, passage 47
Remonstrance Counselor 諫議大夫
Held
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 78, passage 179
Left Remonstrance Aide 左拾遺
AD 926 to AD 930 唐天成中 · Summoned and declined
Dated from the passage context · Old History of the Five Dynasties 93, passage 204

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Right Remonstrance Grand Master 右諫議大夫
AD 936 高祖即位 · Summoned and declined
Dated from the passage context · Old History of the Five Dynasties 93, passage 209
Master Free Wanderer 逍遙先生
Bestowed
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 93, passage 210
Master Xiaoyao 逍遙先生
Granted
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 78, passage 84
Granted
Retirement with salary
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 93, passage 210
Held
Retired
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 78, passages 84, 179

Places and affiliations

AD 936 高祖即位
Polity Later Jin 晉 · Relation Honored by
Dated from the passage context · Old History of the Five Dynasties 93, passages 209-210
Polity Later Jin 後晉 · Relation Served
Strongly inferred · Old History of the Five Dynasties 78, passage 179
At Southern Yan 南燕
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 93, passage 192
At Huayin 華陰 · Relation Resided in
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 93, passage 197
At Mount Hua 華山 · Relation Resided at
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 78, passage 47
At Mount Shaoshi 少室山 · Relation Resided in
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 93, passage 195

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Organization Three High Recluses 三高士 · Relation Member of
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 93, passage 198

Learning and skills

loved learning in youth
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 93, passage 193
Attempted
AD 888 to AD 904 唐昭宗朝 · Credential Jinshi examination 進士舉 · Negated true · failed
Dated from the passage context · Old History of the Five Dynasties 93, passage 194
Belief Daoist practice against the three corpses 去三屍 · Relation Adherent of
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 93, passage 197
Skill chess and pitch-and-toss 棋塞 · Level avid
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 93, passage 203
Skill wine-drinking 好酒 · Level fond
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 93, passages 205, 211
Skill long whistling 長嘯 · Level skilled
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 93, passage 205

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Skill poetry 詩 · Level skilled
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 93, passage 205

Works and attributed material

Peak-Inspired Poetry 擬峰詩
Relation Author · Chapters 36
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 93, passage 195
collected works 文集
Relation Author · Volumes 20
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 93, passage 215
Ode to Wine 詠酒詩
Relation Author
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 93, passage 211
Linked verse · Speaker · Direct quotation
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 93, passage 207
Memorial · Author · With Gaozu (高祖)
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 93, passage 209

Events and relationships

Burned wife letter
Personal · Recipient
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 93, passage 196
Left family for reclusion
Personal · Actor
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 93, passage 194
Likeness secretly painted for screens
Cultural · Subject
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 93, passage 212
Refused official salary
Political · Invitee · With Li Zhen (李振)
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 93, passage 200
Walked thousand li to visit
Personal · Visitor · With Li Zhen (李振)
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 93, passage 200
Wept once and stopped on hearing of deaths
Mourning · Mourner
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 93, passage 201

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Witnessed arts without seeking
Witness · Witness · With Li Daoyin (李道殷)
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 93, passage 199
Death · Deceased
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 78, passage 179
Relation Friend of · Person Li Zhen (李振)
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 93, passage 200
Relation Friend of · Person Li Daoyin (李道殷)
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 93, passage 198
Relation Friend of · Person Luo Yinzhi (羅隱之)
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 93, passages 198, 205

Assessments and attributes

Assessment ample reclusion · Mode historian-judgment
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 93, passage 219
Assessment esteemed for visiting Li Zhen after the southward move · Mode contemporary-judgment
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 93, passage 200
Assessment held in such esteem by contemporaries · Mode historian-judgment
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 93, passage 213
Assessment upright and unyielding · Mode historian-judgment
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 93, passage 193
hands and feet cracked with chilblains while playing in snow, without weariness
Physical description
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 93, passage 203
Item crane 鶴 · Relation Accompanied by
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 93, passage 202

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Item large gourd 大瓠 · Relation Possessed
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 93, passage 206
Item zither 琴 · Relation Used
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 93, passage 202

Source notes

Historicity historical
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 78, passage 179
From Ao 遨 · To Yunsou 雲叟 · Reason temple taboo of Mingzong of Tang
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 93, passage 192

References in the histories

Search passages

History

16 passages

Old History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 78Volume 78 Book of Later Jin 4: Gaozu Annals 4 · 4 passages

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庚申，遣內臣趙處比以版詔征華山隱者前右拾遺鄭雲叟、玉笥山道士羅隱之。 On the gengshen day, the eunuch Zhao Chubi was sent with an edict to summon Zheng Yunsou, the former right reminder and recluse of Mount Hua, and Luo Yinzi, a Daoist priest of Mount Yujian.

庚辰，征前右拾遺鄭雲叟為右諫議大夫，玉笥山道士羅隱之賜號希夷先生。 On the gengchen day, the former right reminder Zheng Yunsou was summoned as right remonstrance counselor, and Luo Yinzi, Daoist priest of Mount Yujian, was granted the style Master Xiyi.

右諫議大夫致仕鄭雲叟賜號逍遙先生，仍給致仕官俸。 Zheng Yunsou, the retired right remonstrance counselor, was granted the style Master Xiaoyao and continued to receive his retirement stipend.

丙申，諫議大夫致仕逍遙先生鄭雲叟卒。 On the bingshen day, Zheng Yunsou, the retired remonstrance counselor known as Master Xiaoyao, died.

Old History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 93Volume 93 Book of Later Jin 19: Biographies 8: Lu Zhi, Li Zhuanmei, Lu Zhan, Cui Zhuo, Xue Rong, Cao Guozhen, Zhang Renyuan, Zhao Xi, Li Xia, Yin Yuyu, Zheng Yunsou · 12 passages

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鄭雲叟，本名遨，雲叟其字也，以唐明宗廟諱，故世傳其字焉，本南燕人也。 Zheng Yunsou, whose original personal name was Ao and whose courtesy name was Yunsou, was originally a man of Southern Yan. Because of the temple taboo on Mingzong of Tang, posterity transmitted his courtesy name.

唐昭宗朝，嘗應進士舉，不第，因欲攜妻子隱於林壑，其妻非之，不肯行，雲叟乃薄遊諸郡，獲數百緡以贍其家，辭訣而去。 During the reign of Emperor Zhaozong of Tang he once took the Jinshi examination but failed. He therefore wished to take his wife and children and live hidden in mountains and valleys, but his wife disapproved and refused to go. Yunsou then traveled lightly through various prefectures, obtained several hundred strings of cash to support his family, bade farewell, and departed.

後妻以書達意，勸其還家，雲叟未嘗一覽，悉投於火，其絕累如此。 Later his wife sent a letter expressing her wishes and urging him to return home, but Yunsou never so much as read it—he threw it all into the fire. Such was his severing of worldly ties.

道殷有釣魚之術，鉤而不餌，又能化易金石，無所不至，雲叟恒目睹其事，信而不求。 Daoyin possessed the art of fishing with hook but no bait and could also transform and transmute metal and stone—there was nothing he could not do. Yunsou constantly witnessed these things and believed without seeking them for himself.

雲叟與梁室權臣李振善，振欲祿之，拒而不諾，及振南遷，雲叟千里徒步以省之，識者高焉。 Yunsou was on good terms with Li Zhen, the powerful minister of the Liang court. Zhen wished to give him an official salary, but Yunsou refused. When Zhen moved south, Yunsou traveled a thousand li on foot to visit him, and those who understood the matter held him in high esteem.

與羅隱之朝夕遊處，隱之以藥術取利，雲叟以山田自給，俱好酒能詩，善長嘯。 He spent his days with Luo Yinzhi, who made a living through pharmaceutical arts while Yunsou supported himself from hillside fields. Both loved wine, wrote poetry well, and were skilled at long whistling.

嘗因酒酣聯句，鄭曰：「一壺天上有名物，兩個世間無事人。」 Once, when they were warm with wine, they composed linked verses; Zheng said, "One pot—a famous thing from heaven; two men in the world without affairs."

羅曰：「醉卻隱之、雲叟外，不知何處是天真。」 Luo said, "When drunk, apart from Yinzhi and Yunsou, I no longer know where true innocence lies."

高祖即位，聞其名，遣使賫書致禮，征為右諫議大夫，雲叟稱疾不起，上表陳謝。 When Gaozu took the throne he heard of Yunsou's fame and sent an envoy with a letter and gifts to summon him as Right Remonstrance Grand Master. Yunsou pleaded illness and declined, submitting a memorial of thanks.

高祖覽表嘉之，賜近臣傳觀，尋賜號逍遙先生，以諫議大夫致仕，月給俸祿。 Gaozu read the memorial and praised it, having it passed among his close ministers for viewing. He soon granted Yunsou the title Master Free Wanderer and allowed him to retire as Remonstrance Grand Master with a monthly salary.

雲叟好酒，嘗為《詠酒詩》千二百言，海內好名者書於縑緗，以為贈貺。 Yunsou loved wine and once composed an Ode to Wine of twelve hundred characters. Admirers throughout the realm copied it onto silk and gave it as gifts.

唯玉羽之貞退，雲叟之肥遁，足可以柅奔競之風，激高尚之節也。 Only Yuyu's steadfast withdrawal and Yunsou's ample reclusion were enough to check the wind of frantic striving and inspire the integrity of the lofty-minded.