Qu Yuan, Father of Chinese Poetry

Close up view of the artwork mounted to this silk brocade wall scroll

This is often romanized as "Qu Yuan", "Qū Yuán", "Ch'ü Yüan", or "K'iu Yuan".

He was a Chinese poet who lived between 343 and 278 BC during the Warring States Period of ancient China. He is known for his contributions to classical poetry and verses, especially through the poems of the Chu Ci anthology (AKA: The Songs of the South or Songs of Chu).

He was also a high minister in the government. However, he was one of the few honest politicians. It his final act, he carried a heavy stone into a river and committed suicide to protest the corruption in the government and the plight of his fellow countrymen. For this reason, he is celebrated and held in high esteem in Chinese culture.

The dragon boat races (which may have started as effort to find Qu Yuan's body in boats back in 278 BC) are held every year to commemorate Qu Yuan's life and death.

This was painted by (Bei Bin) from near Jinan in the Shandong province of Northern China.. This was painted in 2008 (as indicated in the Chinese characters below the title).