Biography

Yuan Jie was born in either 719 or 723, in Wuchang (modern-day Wuhan, Hubei Province), Lu (modern Lushan County, Henan) or Henan (modern Luoyang, Henan Province).

He attained a jinshi degree in the imperial examination in 754, and was involved in the putting down of the An Lushan Rebellion. In 763 he was appointed governor of Dao Prefecture, and in 768 he moved to , but during this time he came to resent the heavy taxes that his position forced him to levy on the peasants, and in 769, following the death of his mother, he resigned his post.

He died in 772.

Names

His courtesy name was Cishan, and his art names included Manlang, Aosou, and Qiganzi.

Poetry

There is a ten-volume, Ming-era anthology of his poetry called the Yuan Cishan Ji (元次山集 Yuán Cìshān-jí|w=Yüan2 Tz'u4shan1 Chi1|l=Yuan Cishan Anthology).

His poem "Zei Tui Shi Guanli" (賊退示官吏 zéi tuì shì guānlì), which he wrote while stationed in Dao Prefecture and which describes the state of society immediately following An Lushan's rebellion, was highly praised by Du Fu, and is seen as a forerunner of the works of Bai Juyi.

He also compiled the Qie-zhong Ji (篋中集 Qiè-zhōng jí, literally Out of the Book-Bin), a 760 collection of 24 poems by seven of his contemporaries, whose moral temper he admired but who did not hold official position.

Prose

He is often listed alongside Xiao Yingshi and Li Hua as a forerunner of the gu wen (古文 gū-wén|w=ku1-wen2|l=ancient prose) movement.

生平

北魏常山王拓跋遵的十二代孫，尚書都官郎中、常山郡公元善禕的玄孫，朝散大夫、褒信令、常山公元仁基的曾孫，霍王府參軍元亨的孫子，魏成主簿、延唐丞元延祖的兒子。天寶十二載（753年）進士。安史之亂，史思明攻克洛陽，他到長安向唐肅宗上書。被任命為左金吾衛兵曹參軍、監察御史。761年，任山南道節度使參謀，守泌陽，保住了15座城。寶應元年（762年），唐代宗即位後，為著作郎。追贈其父元延祖為左贊善大夫。763年，出任道州刺史，減輕賦稅，免除徭役。第二年，為容管經略使，幾個月內，安定了容管八州。逝世後，追贈禮部侍郎。

二子元以方、元以明。元結有《元次山集》。

元次山碑

元次山碑全稱《唐故容州都督兼御史中丞本管經略使元君表墓碑銘並序》，亦稱《元魯山銘》。顏真卿撰並書丹，唐大曆七年（772年）11月刻立。據清王昶《金石萃編》載：碑高八尺（190厘米），寬三尺九寸（95厘米）。厚28厘米，兩面各17行，兩側各4行，每行33至35字不等，全文約1390字。碑在河南魯山縣城北15公里青條嶺泉上村元結墓前，元朝時移到縣城文廟中，碑為殘碑，現字跡更是磨滅不清。此碑書于顏真卿63歲時，其字渾厚雄健，氣勢磅礡，是他的代表作品之一。

注釋