Qu Yuan

Qu Yuan was a Chinese poet and political figure of the State of Chu during the Warring States period, who lived roughly from 340 BC to 278 BC. The surviving evidence for his life is limited, and the earliest known reference to him is a lament written in 174 BC. He is traditionally regarded as the first great named poet in Chinese literature and is linked to the Verses of Chu. He is the central figure associated with the Chu Ci anthology; The Lament is generally accepted as his work, while the attribution of many other poems has been disputed. Later tradition associates his death by drowning in the Miluo River with customs of the Dragon Boat Festival.