Cen Shen

Cen Shen or Cen Can (traditional Chinese: 岑參; simplified Chinese: 岑参; pinyin: Cén Shēn; Wade–Giles: Ts'en Shen, or, sometimes, Ts'en Ts'an), also called Cen Jiazhou (Chinese: 岑嘉州; pinyin: Cén Jiāzhōu; Wade–Giles: Ts'en Chia-chou), (715–770) was a Chinese poet of the Tang Dynasty. He was born to a bureaucratic family in Nanyang (in today's Henan), but later moved to Jiangling, Jizhou (in today's Hubei). His great-grandfather Cen Wenben, granduncle Cen Changqian and uncle Cen Xi were all chancellors. His father Cen Zhi was Governor (Cishi) of Jingzhou. When Cen Shen was 10, his father died, and the financial situation of his family worsened. After then, Cen was learning with assiduity, reading a lot of scriptures and history books. He moved to Chang'an when he was 20, and obtained jinshi, in 744. In 749, Cen's ambitions lead him towards a stint of military service which would last about ten years, where he served as a subordinate to General Gao Xianzhi, and, later, Feng Changqing. In about 751, Cen met Gao Shi and Du Fu, and the three had became good friends. All three were poets. Cen's other friend was the great Tang poet Li Bai, who composed a poem titled "Bring in the Wine", and included a verse which mentioned his friend Cen Shen. ..."To the old master, Cen"... Bring in the wine! Let your cups never rest! Let me sing you a song! Let your ears attend!"

Cen Shen lived through the period from 755 through 763 when the An-Shi disturbances shook the land, spreading civil war, disaster, and all sorts of turmoil throughout the northern parts of China.

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