Yuan Zhen (799-831)¹ was "one of the most celebrated poets and statemen of the mid-Tang period." (ICTCL)

His writings connected to the qin theme include

1. His short story Yingying Zhuan,³ discussed in connection with Wenjun Cao and Feng Qiu Huang
   The story is discussed in some detail in ICTCL, p.950, and several translations are available.

2. His Preface to Xiao Hujia,⁴ which mentions golden qin hui.
   This is perhaps connected to the poem (see below), sometimes said to be anonymous, about Jiang Xuan playing Xiao Hujia.

Yuan Zhen's poems related to the qin include:⁵

1. 聽柔之彈琴 Listening to Rou Zhi play qin
   Two poems; see QSDQ, Folio 19B, #70 and #71

2. 聽庾及之彈烏夜啼引 Listening to Yu Jizhi play a prelude to Wu Ye Ti
   Wu Ye Ti is an ancient melody title; no further information on Yu Jizhi

3. 小胡笳引 Short Hujia Prelude
   Some sources refer to this as "無名氏 Anonymous, 姜宣彈小胡笳引歌 Jiang Xuan plays Hujia Yin'ge."

Yuan Zhen is also mentioned under "qin mats" (qinjian).

 
Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1. 元稹 Yuan Zhen (Wikipedia)
Bio/238 元稹字微之 Yuan Zhen, style name 微之 Weizhi. ICTCL, p.949. QSDQ has two of his poems, mistakenly calling him 元徽之 Yuan Huizhi (see Folio 19B)
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3. Story of Yingying (鶯鶯傳 Yingying Zhuan)
English translations can be found in:

• James Hightower, Traditional Chinese Stories
• Stephen Owen, An Anthology of Chinese Literature, pp. 540-9
• 王敖 Ao Wang, Poetry Matters: Interpretative Community, pailü, and "Yingying zhuan", in HJAS 71.1 (2011): 1-34 (currently online).

The article by Prof. Wang has particularly extensive commentary.
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4. 小胡笳引 7632.411xxx: quoted under 41049.1228 金徽 Jin Hui
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5. Further
Another poem by Yuan Zhen mentions Spring Thoughts.
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