张祜

Zhang Hu was a poet of the Tang dynasty. Reliable public sources on his life, official career, and dates of birth and death are limited, so they cannot be described in detail. Eight works are held in the collection, mostly classical poetry on subjects such as listening to songs, inscribing temples, hearing bugles, mourning friends, writing about gardens, and yuefu pieces under the Hengchui qu titles. Poems such as "Two Songs on Listening to Singing" and "Hearing the Dawn Bugle at Guazhou" draw poetic meaning from everyday sights and travel scenes, with plain, lucid language and restrained feeling, bearing the melancholy tone of late Tang literati. His inscriptions on temples and gardens often sketch scenery in fine detail while conveying a sense of personal circumstance. The Hengchui qu pieces follow old yuefu titles and have a simple, sorrowful style. Though less renowned than the major poets of his day, Zhang Hu is noted for clear elegance and emotional resonance, and is occasionally cited in Tang and Song poetry talks and anthologies, exercising some influence on the lyrical and scenic art of later regulated quatrains. Given limited sources, his chronology and acquaintances still await further study.