Ōyama no Beiryū

Ōyama no Beiryū [尬山の浮让; 1525-1588] was an acclaimed Kantonese poet and scholar of 16th-century Heisai Prefecture, who gained recognition in the Imperial Court for his down-to-earth, insightful and often humourous works. He was a pioneer of the udayame movement in Kantonese poetry, which encouraged contemporary writers to experiment with structure, use their native dialects, and push the envelope of what was 'acceptable' to write about at the time.
Ōyama was born in the village of Tanzu in Kantai Province (modern-day Heisai), as the eldest son of a doctor in 1525. His exact birthdate is unknown. Ōyama became interested in poetry at a young age and was tutored by a local scholar, who taught him the strict techniques and rules involved with writing prose at that time. Ōyama was apparently dissatisfied with this strictness, commenting in his journal entry of 1550 that he felt 'fatigued' and 'bored' by the organisation of traditional stanzas and rhyme schemes. After leaving Furuchi School of Writing in 1552, he was invited to the Imperial Court where his father had begun to serve as a medical advisor.
Ōyama stayed in court for five years, writing almost every day in his journal, and seemingly generating countless poems and short stories. Eventually his work was critiqued by Prince Tamiaka, who apparently greatly enjoyed Ōyama's observations on the maidservants of the court. Through Tamiaka's favour he published his first anthology in 1558, to great acclaim. From that point onwards Ōyama continued to publish works, each book of poetry becoming more and more satirical and irreverent. In 1564, after the release of his fifth collection A Thousand Ripples, he was commanded to leave the Imperial Court due to a rather scathing review of the Imperial Commander.
After leaving the capital Ōyama traveled all over Kanton and Korea, composing many poems about the places and people he saw. He finally settled in modern-day Senzen Prefecture, and died of a liver disease in 1580.
== Notable works ==
* Kakke [韓元, First Try]
* Sen Ippen [千玖環, A Thousand Ripples]
* Yazabara Sataku [垮薇刲く, Plucking A Wild Rose]
* Chaha no Ten [查貼の抹, Broken Teacup]
* Kuii no Ryō [準瓮の量, Hopeless Road]
* Hojūsen Sa [五十千裙; Fifty Thousand Skirts]
* Yukishiri Yamano [雪附り山の; On Snowy Mountains]
Category:People