Qu Yuan- Father of Chinese Poetry

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Qu Yuan, from China's Warring States Period[战国时代], has come to be regarded as the Father of Chinese Poetry. He is remembered not only for his poetic achievements, but also for his strong sense of loyalty to his country.

China, at that time, was divided into seven states, constantly at war with one another. Qu was born into a branch of the royal clan[1] of the Chu State, located in the Eastern part of China. At that time, the most dominant of the seven states was the Qin, located in the west. The Qin State was constantly looking for ways to conquer its smaller neighbors and had its eyes on Chu. 

Qu served as an official under King Huai of Chu[楚怀王]. Qu was a trusted advisor of the king and strongly advocated an alliance with[主张联盟] other states against the larger Qin. 

However, the Qin had different plans. A Qin envoy[2], Zhang Yi[张仪], bribed[贿赂,收买] several statesmen[政治家] close to King Huai, ordering them to convince the king to turn against[反对；背叛;采取敌对态度] Qu. King Huai, misguided under the influence of political trickery[权术;政治手段], exiled[流放,放逐] Qu, sending him to the Northeastern part of modern day Hunan Province. 

Thus, the king had lost his number one advisor, and would soon pay the consequences[承担后果]. Not long after Qu was exiled, the Chu State once again fell prey to[成为...的牺牲品;深受...之害;被……捕食;被……折磨] the Qin's trickery. Under the pretense of[借口,以……为托辞] peace, the Qin captured King Huai, holding him in captivity[被监禁;被囚禁;人工饲养的] until his death. In the coming years, the Qin conquered the Chu capital, leaving the Chu state in shambles[3]. 

Hearing the news of Chu's downfall[垮台;衰败], Qu, still in exile[在流放,在他乡], drowned himself in the Miluo River[汨罗江] in a gesture of grief, frustration, and protest. Before he died, he left the poem "Lament for Yin[4]*."

*How long can one man's lifetime last?
In the end we return to formlessness.

人生能几何，毕竟归无形。

I think of you waiting to die.
A thousand things cause me distress

念君等为死，万事伤人情。*

Like other poets in Chinese history, Qu wrote some of his greatest works during his period of exile. In one of his greatest achievements, Qu annotated, edited, and contributed to the Verses of Chu[楚辞], a large poetic collection[诗集] which is one of the earliest collections of Chinese literature in history.

Qu has since become a symbol for Chinese patriotism[爱国主义]. Qu spoke out for the genuine good of his country and its people, eventually giving up his life when his country had fallen. 

The legacy of this patriotic poet lives on to today. Legend has it[据说…,传说…], that when Qu drowned himself in the waters of Miluo, local villagers and friends all came to save him, rowing boats into the middle of the river. They beat drums to keep the evil spirits[恶灵] away and even threw rice wrapped in leaves into the river as an offering to Qu's spirit. The wrapped rice has since became known as the famous Chinese food, Zong Zi, and the act of rowing boats in the river has been commemorated by the tradition of dragon boat racing[龙舟赛]. 

Every year, on the Duan Wu festival, Chinese people all over the world eat Zong Zi and race dragon boats, remembering the famous poet Qu Yuan, and what he stood for.

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[1]the royal clan：皇室家族

clan：a large family, or a group of people who share the same interest 家族

[2]envoy：someone who is sent as a representative from one government or organization to another 使者；使节；代表

a United Nations special envoy

联合国特使

[3]in shambles 混乱局面；无序的场面；凌乱不堪；一片狼藉

shambles：a state of confusion, bad organization or untidiness, or something which is in this state 混乱，凌乱，杂乱；混乱（或凌乱、杂乱）之物

After the party, the house was a total/complete shambles.

聚会过后，整幢房子一片狼藉。

Our economy is in a shambles.

我们的经济一团糟。

The way these files are arranged is the biggest shambles I've ever seen.

这是我见过的弄得最乱的档案。

[4]*Lament for Yin

[注]这里比较搞笑的是，从后文附的两句诗搜索得知，Lament for Yin这里应该是指《哭殷遥》，但是哭殷遥的作者是王维......

然后，搜到屈原写过的，《九章·哀郢》是战国时期楚国伟大诗人屈原的作品。所谓“哀郢”，即哀悼楚国郢都被秦国攻陷、楚怀王受辱于秦，百姓流离失所之事。其中，郢(ying)是古代中国楚国的都城，在今湖北省江陵县附近。

lament：to express sadness and feeling sorry about something 对…感到悲痛，对…表示失望，痛惜

The poem opens by lamenting (over) the death of a young man.

这首诗的开篇表达了对一位青年之死的惋惜之情。

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