Abstract: In the early Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), Wang Yun, a northern poet, wrote a large number of figure painting poems in his life, including poems eulogizing famous literati, monarchs and scholars. While revealing meaning of the paintings, these poems associate, in strong emotions, the portrayed figures with the poet himself in terms of both his desire for officialdom and intention of inner seclusion, greatly enriching the content and form of expression of the poems. Through the study of Wang Yun’s figure painting poems, which are hitherto scarcely touched upon by previous critics, we can not only see the attitude of the northern poets represented by Wang Yun towards their contemporary reality, but also see the impact of social reality on the poet's mentality and provenance choice.

Key words: Wang Yun, early Yuan Dynasty, figure painting poetry, famous literati, monarch, man of letters