One of the Four Great Yuan Playwrights

Ma Zhiyuan (马致远; c. 1250–1321), courtesy name Dongli (东篱), was a Chinese poet and celebrated playwright, a native of Dadu (大都, present-day Beijing) during the Yuan Dynasty.

Among his achievements is the development and popularizing of the new sanqu (散曲) lyric form of poetry. The poem "Autumn Thoughts" (秋思) from the book '东篱乐府' is the most widely known of his sanqu poems.

He is considered to be one of the Four Great Yuan Playwrights, along with Guan Hanqing, Bai Renfu, and Zheng Guangzu.

Works

A sanqu (散曲) poem, composed to the metric pattern Tianjingsha (天净沙), entitled "Autumn Thoughts" (秋思 ):

A Withered vine, an ancient tree, crows at dusk

枯藤老树昏鸦。

A Little bridge, a flowing stream, some huts

小桥流水人家。

An old road, wind out of the west, an emaciated horse

古道西风瘦马。

A heart-broken man on the horizon at sunset.

夕阳西下，断肠人在天涯。

Source: cultural-china.com

Editor: Feng Hui