Hsieh Ling-yün (385-433), Duke of K'ang-lo, was a Chinese poet. An aristocrat of philosophic temper, he was China's first systematic nature poet to explore the mountains and gorges of South China and write poems about them.

Hsieh Ling-yün, whose ancestral home was Yang-hsia (in presentday Honan Province), belonged to one of the most illustrious families who moved to South China with the Chin court when North China was invaded by barbarian tribes from across the Chinese border. Besides Hsieh Ling-yün, there were several poets of the Hsieh clan who achieved fame during the 4th and 5th centuries.

Upon his father's death, Ling-yün acquired his hereditary title as the Duke of K'ang-lo and would have seemed assured of a brilliant career at court; yet this persistently eluded him. Partly to blame were his aristocratic arrogance and his lavish style of maintaining...