In January 773 AD, the 65-year-old Yan Zhenqing came to Huzhou in northern Zhejiang. It was the last stop of his exile from Chang’an (present-day Xi’an), the capital city of the Tang (618-907). The capital was about 1,700 kilometers from Huzhou. Yan did not know he was to spend five years being Huzhou governor and making friends with those who got to leave their names in the history of China’s literature and culture.

In Huzhou, Yan hosted the Western Zhejiang Poem-Composing for five consecutive years. Traditionally, western Zhejiang refers to the region north and west of the Qiantang River. This part of Zhejiang is now the north of the province. Back then, poets in Jiangnan met regularly. Such gatherings were socializing parties, unlike some events where little-known poets sought opportunities to be recognized, endorsed and approved.

A statesman, calligrapher, scholar and poet, Yan was eager to meet celebrated scholars and poets in Jiangnan partly because he had been trying to put together a reference book for poetry writing. The reference book would be a dictionary that explained words and provided rhyme guidelines. He needed inputs from poets and scholars. Eventually, he successfully concluded the book project. Scholars today consider the book as the first of its kind in Chinese history. It is mentioned in many old-time books though the encyclopedic tome didn’t survive.

Yan Zhenqing did meet many celebrated scholars and poets during his five years in Huzhou. Among them was Lu Yu (733-804), a scholar who authored , the world’s first scholarly book on tea both as plant and as beverage. Yan met Buddhist monk Jiaoran (720-803), a native of Huzhou and outstanding poet who claimed to be a tenth-generation descendent of Xie Lingyun, the first nature poet in the history of China.

And Yan Zhenqing met Zhang Zhihe (732-774), the poet who wrote the famous , cherished even by millions of today. An English translation by Xu Yuanchong reads as follows:

A Fisherman’s Song

Zhang Zhihe

In front of western hills white egrets fly up and down

Over peach-mirrored stream, where perches are full grown.

In a broad-brimmed blue hat

And green straw cloak, I’d fain

Go fishing careless of the slanting wind and rain.

Yan Zhenqing first met Zhang Zhihe in August 774 when Zhang came from Yuezhou in eastern Zhejiang to visit Huzhou. Most people of today know Zhang through the famous A Fishman's Song, but Zhang was a prominent landscape painter. A tomb inscription by Yan Zhenqing records how he first met Zhang at a banquet attended by more than 60 guests. Zhang created a painting on the occasion. He painted as if dancing wildly. The guests were astonished by the way he painted. Monk Jiaoran was there. He later wrote a poem in commemoration of the event and mentioned Zhang Zhihe. Zhang was a precocious boy. He attained his first academic degree through imperial examinations at 16. He served as a court official and a county governor in his short career. After his mother and wife passed away, he deserted the career and led a life of traveler wandering by boat.

In the spring of 775, Yan Zhenqing, Lu Yu, Xu Shiheng and Li Chengju met and wrote poems. The four wrote 25 poems all titled A Fishman's Song . Apparently they must have been inspired by Zhang’s namesake poem. Zhang got drowned in the winter of 774. The friendship between Yan and Zhang lasted only several months. He wasn’t there to see how his poem inspired the four poets. All the 25 poems were lost. Zhang actually wrote five poems using the same title and all the five have come down to us today. Zhang was the first person who wrote A Fishman's Song. It later became a Ci-poem format and many poets of the Tang and following dynasties wrote their own poems in this format.