Abstract Cui Yin was a writer enjoying the same celebrity as Ban Gu and Fu Yi in the early Eastern Han Dynasty .His works became obsolete after the Tang Dynasty .His works such as ″Odes to Northern Expedition″(《北征颂》) and″Four Odes on the Royal Inspection Tours″(《四巡颂》) have however been preserved in Wenguan Cilin in Japan (日藏弘仁本《文馆词林》) .A thorough inquiry is needed concerning such aspects as his circle of friends in the royal college,the exact writing time of his works,and their historical values . Firstly,although Cui Yin,Ban Gu and Fu Yi all had the experience of studying in the royal college,it does not mean Cui Yin was the schoolmate of the other two,who were more renowned than Cui Yin .After his early years of study in his hometown Pingling (now Xianyang,Shanxi Province),Fu Yi began his study in the royal college around 59 A .D .(the 2nd year in the reign of Emperor Ming of the Eastern Han Dynasty) .In contrast,Ban Gu quit his studies in the royal college in 54 A .D .(the 30th year in the reign of Emperor Guangwu) .When his father Ban Biao,a famous historian,died,he was obliged to go back to his hometown to mourn for three years in accordance with traditional practices .Afterwards,Ban Gu moved his family to Luoyang,the capital of the country,and was nominated as a royal secretary in 62 A .D .(the 5th year in the reign of Emperor Ming),which means Ban Gu had no chance of studying together with Fu Yi in the royal college .In fact,Fu Yi turned to Ban Gu for historical compilation,thereby making himself a student of the latter .On the other hand,Cui Yin did study together with Fu Yi in the royal college,but there was little chance for him to be a schoolmate of Ban Gu . Secondly,it is deduced that a great many works of Cui Yin were produced during his study in the royal college .As Emperor Zhang ascended to the throne,he summoned writers to compose odes to Emperor Ming .In response,Cui Yin composed″Odes to Emperor Ming″(《明帝颂》) around 78 A .D .(the 3rd year in the reign of Emperor Zhang) .From 80 A .D .till 81 A .D . (the 5th and 6th year in the reign of Emperor Zhang),Emperor Zhang attached great importance to Winter Solstice .As a result,Cui Yin composed a series of works such as″Odes to Socks in Winter Solstice″(《冬至袜铭》),″Odes to Sewing″(《缝铭》),and″Odes to a Cup″(《樽铭》) .Cui Yin composed his famous work″Dazhi″(《达旨》),which reflected the historical events of Emperor Zhang carrying out Confucian education and heightening the social and political status of teachers . There were also some descriptions about the national carnivals for finding a phoenix in 85 A .D . (the 2nd year in the reign of Emperor Zhang) . Thirdly,Cui Yin's″Odes to Northern Expedition″(《北征颂》)might have other titles .Li Shan,a scholar in the Tang Dynasty,once quoted a sentence from Cui Yin's″Wu Fu″(《武赋》)to annotate Wenxuan(《文?? .Besides,Yu Shinan,another scholar in the Tang Dynasty,also quoted a sentence from Cui Yin's″Wudu Fu″(《武都赋》)in his Beitang Shuchao(《北堂书钞》) . Coincidentally,both sentences can be found in Cui Yin's″Odes to Northern Expedition .″It means that ″Odes to Northern Expedition,″″Wu Fu″and″Wudu Fu″are actually the same work with different titles . Lastly,as one of the greatest works of Cui Yin,″Four Odes on the Royal Inspection Tours″ (《四巡颂》),consisting of″Odes on the Eastern,Western,Northern and Southern Royal Inspection Tours,″was presented to Emperor Zhang when the latter finished the southern inspection tour in the October of 87 A .D .(the 1st year in the reign of Emperor Zhang in the Eastern Han Dynasty) .Apparently,all of them have great historical values,but they tend to be ignored by contemporary scholars .″Odes on the Southern Royal Inspection Tours″can supplement the records in The History of the Eastern Han Dynasty (《后汉书》) regarding the southern inspection tour of Emperor Zhang .The descriptions of the worship of Qu Yuan also reveals the fact that Qu Yuan had gotten a higher status in the early Eastern Han Dynasty than before,which can help enrich the study of The Songs of Chu (《楚辞》) .″Odes on the Western,Northern and Southern Royal Inspection Tours″have important values as a supplement to The History of the Eastern Han Dynasty .It is worth mentioning that″Odes on the Western Royal Inspection Tours″has more important historical values than the other three works,as it included the political motivation,the routes,the time of the start and end,and a series of sacrificial activities of this royal inspection tours,which could make up for the poor records in The History of the Eastern Han Dynasty where there were only less than twenty words of description .
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