王鹏运生平四考

Four Investigations on Wang Pengyun's Life

王鹏运作为"清季四大词人"之首和临桂词派的领军人物,其生平事迹时见言人人殊。王鹏运青少年时期曾随父在江西生活超过十年;他以未中进士为终身遗憾,直至光绪二十四年近五十岁时仍在参加进士考试;京城觅句堂唱和时间跨度不超过六年,王鹏运参加其唱和时间跨度仅约三年;康有为与王鹏运结交似有借重其监察御史身份之嫌,而王鹏运帮康有为代递奏折是出于支持维新变法的公心。

Although Wang Pengyun was the leader of the ＂four great poets in late Qing Dynasty （1616-1912）＂ and Lingui Cipai（a school of poetry originated in Linggui County, Guilin）, his life is still a mystery toward which different people have different views. Firstly, accompanied by his father, the adolescent Wang Pengyun spent 10 years in Jiangxi. Secondly, he regretted that he couldn＇t pass the Jinshi examination （the highest imperial examination）. Therefore, he didn＇t give up the examination until the 24th year of Guangxu Emperor （1898） when he was about 50 years old. Generally, the time span of Changhe （writing and replying in poems） in Mijutang （a place where poets in ancient Beijing gathered） was less than 6 years. While the time span for Wang Pengyun＇s Changhe was about three years. Fourthly, Kang Youwei（a Chinese scholar, prominent political thinker and reformer of the late Qing dynasty） possibly took advantage of Wang＇s status as supervisory censor while Wang helped Kang pass zouzhe （officer＇s letter to emperor in ancient China） out of supporting the Hundred Days＇ Reform.