Chen Ziang, a celebrated Tang Dynasty writer, passed the imperial exams at age 24. Ambitious and talented, he submitted a political treatise that impressed Empress Wu Zetian, who appointed him as a librarian in the Imperial Library and later promoted him to a remonstrance official. He also served briefly in the military.
In 696 AD, during the reign of Empress Wu Zetian, Prince Wu Youyi of Jian'an led a northern campaign against the Khitan. The 35-year-old poet Chen Zi'ang joined the army as a staff advisor, offering strategic counsel. Wu Youyi, lacking military acumen, suffered a defeat in the vanguard. Chen Zi'ang repeatedly proposed plans, even volunteering to lead a 10,000-strong force as the vanguard. Wu Youyi not only refused but demoted him to a low-ranking clerk.
Frustrated by his unrealized ambitions, Chen Zi'ang was filled with grief and indignation. While the army was stationed in Yan, he climbed the ancient Youzhou Terrace and recalled the historical tale of King Zhao of Yan entrusting General Yue Yi with great responsibility.
Yue Yi's ancestors were from the state of Wei, but later settled in Zhao. From a young age, he loved military strategy and became a general in Zhao as an adult. Due to internal turmoil in Zhao, he went to serve in Wei. In 308 BCE, the King of Wei sent him as an envoy to Yan. King Zhao of Yan, seeing his great talent, invited him to stay. Having long heard of King Zhao's respect for worthy men, Yue Yi decided to remain in Yan. Later, Yue Yi led an army to crush Qi, capturing over 70 cities and earning great military glory. Jealous rivals slandered him before King Zhao, accusing him of ambition. The king ignored the rumors, executed the troublemakers, and thus Yue Yi became even more loyal to him.
Chen Zi'ang, mourning the past and lamenting the present, could not help but sing with grief and indignation, "On the Tower at Youzhou":
Looking Back, No Ancients in Sight The poet Chen Zi'ang of the Tang Dynasty once stood alone on a high terrace, gazing across the vast landscape of Youzhou. He sighed deeply and composed these lines: "Where are the great men of the past? And where are those of future years? Heaven and earth endure, but I weep alone." This verse captures the profound loneliness of a visionary who feels disconnected from both the wisdom of ancient sages and the understanding of future generations. In modern usage, this phrase describes someone who feels isolated in their time, unable to find kindred spirits among contemporaries or predecessors.
Looking back, there is no one to follow behind.
Gazing at the vastness of heaven and earth, one feels the endless passage of time.
Alone, I stand in bitter tears.
Later, Chen Zi'ang was dismissed from his post and returned to his hometown, where he was falsely accused by a county magistrate, thrown into prison, and died of grief and indignation at the young age of 41.
Later, the idiom "unprecedented" came to describe something never done before in history.
Source: *Chen Zi'ang*, "Song on Ascending the Youzhou Terrace"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "前无古人" came to describe how something never done before in history.