Jia Yi

Jia Yi (c. 201-169 BCE)

"The span of life is fated;
How can you guess its ending?
Heaven and Earth are the furnace,
The workman, the Creator;
His coal is the yin and the yang,
his copper, all things of creation."

• Excerpt of a Jia Yi poem (c. 174 BCE), included in the Records of the Grand Historian (Shi Ji, 84) by Sima Qian. Translated by Burton Watson (Columbia University Press, 1993).

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Jia Yi

Jia Yi (c. 201-169 BCE)

"All things alter and change;
Never a moment of ceasing.
Revolving, whirling, and rolling away;
Driven far off and returning again."

• Excerpt of a Jia Yi poem (c. 174 BCE), included in the Records of the Grand Historian (Shi Ji, 84) by Sima Qian. Translated by Burton Watson (Columbia University Press, 1993).

Take a look at more Jia Yi quotes, HERE.

Look at more Sima Qian quotes, HERE.

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Glance through more ancient quote pictures, HERE.

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Jia Yi

Jia Yi (c. 201-169 BCE)

"Now the dullard gains favor and fame;
the slanderers and the toady have their way.
The wise and sage they turn aside;
The upright they have toppled over."

• Excerpt of Jia Yi's poem, "A Lament for Qu Yuan" included in the Records of the Grand Historian (Shi Ji, 84) by Sima Qian. Translated by Burton Watson (Columbia University Press, 1993).

Look at more Sima Qian quotes, HERE.

Check out more Chinese quote pictures, HERE.

Glance through more ancient quote pictures, HERE.

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