张籍的一生行迹（766-830）
张籍（约766-约830），字文昌，和州乌江（今安徽和县）人，中唐著名诗人，韩愈门生。贞元十五年进士，历任太常寺太祝、国子助教、水部员外郎、主客郎中，终官国子司业，世称"张水部""张司业"。其乐府诗与王建齐名，世称"张王乐府"，是新乐府运动的先声。
和州乌江（766） · 乌江少年
唐代宗大历元年（766年）前后，张籍出生于和州乌江县（今安徽和县乌江镇）一个普通士人家庭。乌江因西楚霸王项羽自刎于此而闻名千古，"至今思项羽，不肯过江东"的悲壮遗风滋养了诗人刚健质朴的气质。
蓟北（786） · 北游求学
唐德宗贞元二年（786年）前后，二十岁的张籍负笈北游，足迹遍及蓟北燕赵之地。他登碣石、望幽州，亲身感受边塞风情与山河疮痍，"日日望乡国"的旅思伴随左右，这段壮游为其乐府诗增添了苍凉沉郁的底色。
汴州（798） · 汴州及第
唐德宗贞元十四年（798年），张籍游学至汴州（今河南开封），经孟郊引荐拜见在汴州董晋幕府任职的韩愈，当面呈诗求教，正式列于韩门。韩愈对其才华极为赏识，向知贡举的高郢力荐，次年张籍即进士及第。
长安（及第）（799） · 汴州及第
唐德宗贞元十五年（799年），三十四岁的张籍在长安进士及第，主考官为礼部侍郎高郢。及第后他依唐制守选数年，未能立即授官，继续在长安、洛阳间游学待调，与李翱、孟郊、贾岛等韩门师友交游唱和。
长安（太祝）（806） · 京华宦游
唐宪宗元和元年（806年），守选期满的张籍授太常寺太祝，掌宗庙祭祀赞引之职，秩虽正九品上，总算正式入仕。不幸的是此后数年间他罹患严重眼疾，几乎失明，贫病交加中仍坚持乐府创作，笔端愈加深切地扎进社会现实。
洛阳（812） · 京华宦游
唐宪宗元和七年（812年）前后，张籍携家寓居洛阳。客中逢秋，凉风萧瑟，他提笔欲写家书却百感交集、意绪万重，遂写下传诵千古的《秋思》，以日常琐事道尽天下游子的共同心声。
长安（哭韩愈）（824） · 司业晚岁
唐穆宗长庆四年（824年）十二月，恩师韩愈病逝于长安，终年五十七岁。时任国子博士的张籍悲痛欲绝，写下长诗《祭退之》，追忆师生数十载"出则连辔驰，寝则对榻床"的知遇深情，情同骨肉。
长安（司业）（830） · 司业晚岁
唐文宗大和四年（830年），官至国子司业的张籍病逝于长安，享年约六十五岁。晚年他历官水部员外郎、主客郎中，世称"张水部""张司业"，一生清正廉洁，以乐府诗名垂后世。
The Life Journey of Zhang Ji, Master of the New Yuefu
Zhang Ji (c. 766-c. 830), courtesy name Wenchang, was a native of Wujiang, Hezhou (present-day He County, Anhui) and a leading mid-Tang poet, counted among Han Yu's disciples. A jinshi of 799, he served as Sacrificer of the Imperial Ancestral Temple, Erudite of the National Academy and finally Director of Studies — hence his honorifics 'Zhang of the Water Bureau' and 'Zhang the Director.' His yuefu ballads, ranked with those of Wang Jian as the 'Zhang-Wang yuefu,' heralded the New Yuefu movement.
Timeline of the Journey
- 766 · 和州乌江 — Born to a modest scholar family in Wujiang — the town where Xiang Yu met his end — whose tragic heroism seasoned his sturdy, unadorned voice.
- 786 · 蓟北 — At twenty set out to travel the northern frontier; the watchtowers and war scars of Yan and Zhao gave his ballads their desolate gravity.
- 798 · 汴州 — Introduced by Meng Jiao to Han Yu at Bianzhou, he presented his poems and formally entered Han's school; Han Yu's vigorous commendation speeded his examination success.
- 799 · 长安（及第） — Passed the jinshi examination at Chang'an at thirty-four, then waited years for appointment, wandering and writing with Li Ao, Meng Jiao and Jia Dao.
- 806 · 长安（太祝） — Appointed Sacrificer of the Taichang Temple; soon stricken by an eye disease that nearly blinded him, he wrote on in poverty about common people's lives.
- 812 · 洛阳 — Residing at Luoyang, homesick in the autumn wind, he poured a wanderer's thousand tangled feelings into the immortal 'Autumn Thoughts' over an unfinished letter home.
- 824 · 长安（哭韩愈） — When his mentor Han Yu died, the grieving Zhang Ji wrote the long elegy 'Offering to Tuizhi,' recalling decades of riding side by side and bedding face to face.
- 830 · 长安（司业） — Died at Chang'an as Director of the National Academy, about sixty-five — clean-handed all his life, immortal through his yuefu.
From the banks of the Wu River to the offices of the capital, Zhang Ji turned personal hardship — poverty, near blindness — into verse that recorded the age. His 'Autumn Thoughts,' with its hurried messenger and reopened letter, remains the very grammar of Chinese homesickness.
