Pi Rixiu


Pi Rixiu was a Tang dynasty poet. His courtesy names were Yishao and Ximei, and he wrote under the pen name Lumenzi. Pi was a contemporary of poet Lu Guimeng; these two poets are often referred to as Pi-Lu.
Pi was born at Xiangyang, in modern Hubei Province. He is thought to have been of humble birth. He spent his youth traveling and writing: his verse was well known by the time he sat for the civil service exam in 867, when he obtained a degree of Jinshi. After traveling to Suzhou in 868, he became Suzhou magistrate in 869. Later, he participated in the defeat of the Huang Chao's rebellion, and subsequently retired in southern China.