Zhang Yining was a writer in the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty. He was from Gutian (now Ningde, Fujian). He was talented, well-read and well-remembered. He was well-known at the time and was called “Little Scholar Zhang”. In the Taiding period, he was selected as a Jinshi for his Spring and Autumn Annals. He was promoted to Hanlin Scholar. After the Ming Dynasty destroyed the Yuan Dynasty, he was appointed as a Scholar. He was sent as an envoy to Annan and died on the way back. Yining was good at poetry and wrote “Cuiping Collection” and “Chunwang January Examination”. Zhang Yining advocated the restoration of the past in his poetry theory, which opened a precedent for the Ming Gao Bing’s theory of restoration.
张以宁，元末明初文学家。古田（今属福建宁德）人。有俊才，博学强记，擅名于时，人呼“小张学士”。泰定中，以春秋举进士。官至翰林侍读学士。明灭元，复授侍讲学士。奉使安南，还，卒于道。以宁工诗，著有《翠屏集》、《春王正月考》等。张以宁论诗主张复古，为明高棅复古理论开了先河。
《秋海棠》 张以宁
软渍红稣百媚生，嫣然一笑欲倾城。
不须更乞春阴护，绿叶低遮倍有情。
Begonia
Zhang Yining
With all charms lithe, rubicund and tender,
She is unrivaled in pulchritude with a smile enchanting and winsome.
It is dispensable to implore the god for vernal-shade shelter.
Under the cover of green foliage she appears exceptionally sentimental and handsome.
