Qu Yuan Archaeological Permit

The current studies of Poetry of the South by means of unearthed literature have been confined to the level of word explanation and text interpretation. This paper however, by integrally analyzing the unearthed literature, traditional documents, folk legends and academic history as well, focuses on the study of the author and clarifies the historical puzzles of Qu Yuan' sbloodline, life, official career, exile experience, and self-drowning in the river. The paper holds that the surname Qu was a grand and longstanding family name in the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 B.C.) and the Warring States Period (475-221 B.C.). The three main surnames of Zhao, Qu, Jing derived themselves from the Kingdom Chu, sharing the same names of the kingdom families: Zhao from King Chu Zhao, Qu from King Chu Wu, and Jing from King Chu Ping. Qu's family members then often held important post, successful career, and good business, and enjoyed high social prestige. Being well educated people with a silver tongue, they were reasonable, restrained, traditional and absolutely loyal to their country Chu and its monarchy. Secondly, it is proved through a thorough textual research on Chu Tombs in Guodian that Qu Yuan had nothing to do with anyone buried in Tomb No. 1, and the records by the Han people about Qu Yuan's official career, exile experience, and self-drowning are clear and credible. Thirdly, the theory of "Zuo Tu" , namely "Deng Tu" , is untenable. Wang Yi's narrative record of "Post of San Lu Dafu, in charge of the imperial kinsmen with surnames as Zhao, Qu, Jing" is credible, supported by historical literature and archaeological investigation. The Post of "Zuo Tu" was the height of Qu yuan' s official career, while being a "San Lu Dafu" was his life long official post. Fourthly, the route of Qu's being exiled described in "AiYing" , "She Jiang" apparently carries a touch of autobiography, for Qu Yuan did suffer the three hard periods in his official life: being cold-shouldered because of backbiters, being packed away to the distant north, and being exiled to the remote south. Finally, supported by the research on the tombs of Mi Luo, Qu Tan, and San Lv Dafu, the credibility of Qu Yuan's self-drowning event is unquestionable. The logical starting point in the study of Qu Yuan's self-drowning is the motivation of his behavior and the significance it indicates to us.