Biography

Sources

Chapter 183 of the New Book of Tang gives a short biography of Han Wo.

Birth and early life

He was born in either 842 or 844. He was a native of Wannian, Jingzhao (modern-day Xi'an, Shaanxi Province). His father, Han Zhan (韩瞻 Hán Zhān) took the imperial examination in the same year as Li Shangyin, who was also connected to Wo's family through marriage. The young Wo supposedly was recognized for his poetic genius by Li, who praised him.

Political career

In 889 (Longji 1) he passed the imperial examination, receiving his Jinshi degree. He became a scholar at the Hanlin Academy and a low-ranking official at the Central Secretariat, eventually becoming Vice-Minister of Defense (兵部侍郎). He earned the trust of Emperor Zhaozong, working with him against the eunuchs, and was recommended for the position of chancellor, but he was disliked by Zhu Quanzhong (later to become Emperor Daizu of Liao) and was therefore exiled to Pu Prefecture (modern Fan County, Henan).

Later life and death

Following his exile, Han did not return to government, and spent his last years in the Min Kingdom. He died around 923, having never returned to the capital.

Names

Courtesy name

His courtesy name was either Zhiyao or Zhiguang, or possibly Zhiyuan.

The New Book of Tang, as well as a work by Han's contemporary , refer to him as Zhiguang, but the Liexian Zhuan associates the character used in his given name Wo with the second character of Zhiyao, lending support to the idea that Zhiguang would have fit his given name better. Both the Tang Cai Zi Zhuan and the Tangshi Jishi (唐诗纪事) give his courtesy name as Zhiyao. The theory that his courtesy name was Zhiyuan relies on the .

Art name

His art name was Yushan-Qiaoren.

Poetry

In literary history, Han is generally considered a poet of the so-called late Tang period, which spanned the early-ninth century to 907.

An anthology of his poems, the Xianglian Ji (香奁集 xiānglián jí), survives. His poetry is noted for its sensual beauty, with the Xianglian Ji having given its name to xianglian-ti (香奁体 xiānglián tǐ), a style of poetry associated with him. His poems of other types are collected in the Yushan-Qiaoren Ji (玉山樵人集 yùshān-qiáorén jí|w=yü4shan1-ch'iao2jên2 chih2).

Reception

His poetry influenced the work of the fourteenth-century poet Yang Weizhen.

生平

父韩瞻，进士出身。兄韩仪，官到翰林学士。韩偓生于会昌二年（842年），幼聪敏，十岁能诗，得姨父李商隐作诗两首，称其「雏凤清于老凤声」。唐昭宗龙纪元年（889年）进士。佐河中幕府，召拜左拾遗，历官翰林学士、中书舍人。光化三年十一月随唐昭宗奔凤翔，升兵部侍郎、翰林承旨。902年拒绝草诏起复在任时受贿卖官后因母丧去职的前宰相韦贻范。

朱温控制朝廷后，韩偓不附，被贬濮州（今河南省濮阳市）司马，再贬荣懿（今四川省中部）县尉、邓州（今河南省与湖北省交界）司马。韩偓遂弃官逃去，南依闽王王审知，住南安潘山招贤院，又曾寓居九日山延福寺，与弘一大师友好。擅写宫词，多写艳情，词藻华丽，有「手香江橘嫩，齿软越梅酸」（《幽窗》）之句，人称「香奁体」，一说著有《香奁集》。

后梁龙德三年（923年），韩偓病逝于南安丰州龙兴寺并葬于杏田葵山。

夫人裴氏，封郡君，先卒于己；子韩寅亮。

注释

参考书目

• 《新唐书》卷一八三

• 《十国春秋》卷九十五

• 《唐才子传·韩偓传》

• 郑文宝《南唐近事》

• 弘一大师《香奁集辨伪》

• 霍松林、邓小军《韩偓年谱》