The Ancient Soul of Iron Cliff: The Biography of Fan Deji

Soul of Poetry Pierces the Dipper: The Life of Yang Zai is a sweeping biography spanning time and space. Centered on Yuan dynasty poet Yang Zai (1271–1323), it blends history, science fiction, and philosophical reflection to paint a grand portrait of civilization passed down through the ages. Breaking free from the bounds of traditional biography, the story stretches from the eve of the Southern Song dynasty’s fall to the interstellar age of the 22nd century. Following the thread of poetic inheritance, it explores how an individual life can become a vessel for cultural genes. Through Yang Zai’s growth, official career, friendships, and the far-reaching influence of his poetic theories on later generations and even alien civilizations, the book reveals the resilience and creativity of Chinese civilization amid dynastic change and the blending of peoples. It reshapes our view of Yuan dynasty cultural history and celebrates the enduring value and confidence of traditional culture in an age of technology.

Ancient Soul of the Iron Cliff: The Life of Fan Deji is a substantial biography that offers a penetrating portrait of Fan Peng (1272–1330), one of the Four Great Poets of the Yuan dynasty. Taking his courtesy name, Deji (“the pivot of morality”), as its spiritual core, the book recounts his turbulent journey from an ordinary man in Qingjiang, Jiangxi, to a Hanlin Academician-in-Waiting. Through his travels and studies, his official service in Hunan, Hainan, and the Fujian Surveillance Commission, and his final illness and death on the way home, the book vividly depicts his unbending integrity, his poetry’s concern for real life, epitomized by Song of Minzhou, and the lasting influence of his work on poetics, Prohibited Words of the Jade Hall. More than the life story of Fan Peng, this book is also a history of the hearts and minds of scholars and of culture in the mid-Yuan era, highlighting both the power and the limits of poor scholars who used learning and poetry to uphold what was right and engage with the world around them.