Cultural Celebrity --- Qin Guan

Qin Guan(1049-1100), a poetic man with the poetic Song Ci like Shelley or Byron in the west. But his romance was different from theirs. This is a strong show of individual affection or sentiments, releasing the humanity, the contradiction of poetic spirit and the cruel reality, the ambitious pursuit and the social annoyance. Qin Guan was a sad poet with the sad works. In his works, the personal sentiment from heart and the rhythmical words are both attracting the readers’eyes and soul.

Ci anciently was written for singing, it was not emphasized as highly as poem. The ci writers mostly were poets and they used to write ci at their leisure time. So at that time, Ci was just a measure for leisure not considered to be one of literary forms until the theory mentioned by Su Dongpo. And then the function of Ci gradually turns to be the literature form from lyrics.

Qin Guan as one of the Four Great Literators of Su Family was the brother-in-law of Su Dongpo. His ci was always showing the sorrow and sad of people who are lonely.