SòngYuán transition 元 Wúzhōng (Sūzhōu) gentry-recluse-poet. Zì Tōngfǔ 通甫; hào Jìngchūn 靜春 (“Quiet-Spring”). Native of Chángzhōu 長洲 (Sūzhōu, modern Jiāngsū). CBDB 35238 records 1262–1306.
Retreat-pattern. Refused official advancement (bù qiú shìjìn). Declined the Bù shǐzhě (Ministry Commissioner) recommendation to the imperial court. Briefly held the Huīzhōufǔ Shídòng shūyuàn shānzhǎng (Huīzhōu Stone-Cave Academy Headship); soon resigned and returned home. Built the Jìngchūntáng between the Wúsōng River and Jùqū (Tàihú); maintained a 10,000-juàn personally-collated home library; occasionally travelled in a small skiff carrying writing-board, tea-stove, and ancient instruments along the rivers and lakes.
Wúzhōng sān jūnzǐ. Honored by Zhào Mèngfǔ 趙孟頫 together with Gōng Sù 龔璛 KR4d0457 and Guō Línsūn 郭麟孫 as the Wúzhōng sān jūnzǐ 吳中三君子 (Three Gentlemen of Wúzhōng) — Zhào painted Yuán Yì’s Wòxuě tú (Lying-in-Snow Picture) commemorating this.
Poetic style. Sìkù editors place him in the Chén Yǔyì 陳與義 (Chén Qùfēi 陳去非, 1090–1138) lineage — tǔyán tiānbá (spit-out-words, heaven-elevated). Distinct from both Huáng Tíngjiān’s róngzhù chánxuē and Chén Shīdào’s shēnkè shòuyìng styles (against which Lì È’s later bá incorrectly compared him).
Reception. Gōng Sù 龔璛 composed the principal preface in Yányòu 4 (1317), 11 years after Yuán’s death. Lì È 厲鶚 (Qīng-era) supplied a later bá. Wú Nè 吳訥 (MíngZhèngtǒng era, 1436–1449) added an admiring postscript.
Within the Kanripo corpus. KR4d0488 Jìngchūntáng shījí 靜春堂詩集 (撰).