Li Qingzhao

Chinese poet

• Born: 1084
• Birthplace: Jinan, Shandong Province, China
• Died: c. 1155
• Place of death: Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province(?), China

The greatest woman lyricist in the history of classical Chinese literature, Li Qingzhao made use of everyday language to explore the subtleties of human emotions. Her simple yet elegant style shaped the poetic expressions of the Southern Song Dynasty and inspired many lyricists.

Early Life

Li Qingzhao (lee cheeng-jahoh) was born the oldest child of a family that was very fond of literature. Her father, Li Gefei (Li Ke-fei), was a renowned essayist; her mother, who came from a politically distinguished family, was also known for having literary talent. From 1086 to 1093, her father assumed a teaching position at the Imperial Academy in the capital, Kaifeng, and engaged himself in composing literary works while fulfilling his scholarly obligations. This position provided him with ample opportunity to work at home. During those seven years, Li learned from her parents much about classical Chinese literature as well as the art of literary composition. Except for a short interruption in 1094, when her father was assigned to a provincial position, Li’s education at home continued well into her mid-teens.

The earliest extant works by Li, two poems of the same title, “Wuxi zhongxing song shi” (“On Paean to Revival, Inscribed on the Cliff of Wuxi”), were composed at the age of sixteen. These two poems were written in order that they might rhyme with a poem of the same title by Zhang Lei (Chang Lei), a famous poet in the Song Dynasty (960-1279). Taking exception to Zhang Lei’s traditional stance, which celebrates the restoration of the central government during the reign of Emperor Suzong (Su-tsung) in the Tang Dynasty (618-907), Li was critical of those writers who forgot and overlooked the corruption and rebellion that preceded this restoration. The fact that Li was able to compose a poem that rhymed with the work of such a renowned poet at a time when women were discouraged from participating in men’s social gatherings occasions that formed the basis of such poems indicates the degree of recognition accorded her by her contemporaries. The efflorescence of her creativity, however, did not begin until after her marriage, which occurred in 1101.

Life’s Work

Li Qingzhao’s marriage to Zhao Mingcheng (Chao Ming-ch’eng) inspired her to compose many lyrics of enduring fame in the history of Chinese literature. The third son of Zhao Tingzhi, a censor who later became the premier during the reign of Emperor Huizong (Hui-tsung, r. 1101-1125), Zhao Mingcheng was studying at the Imperial Academy at the time of his marriage to Li. Although the marriage was arranged by their parents, as was the custom in China, it proved to be a happy one for Li. She began to compose lyrics celebrating the joy of their union. As exhibited in the works at this stage for example, “Jianzi mulanhua” (“The Magnolia Flower”) and “Yu jia ao” (“Tune: A Fisherman’s Honor”) Li in her married life was a charming yet somewhat coquettish woman who was well aware of her own beauty. She not only often compared herself to a flower but also intended to rival the beauty of a flower all to attract her husband’s attention. Because of his studies at the Imperial Academy, her husband could return home only on the first and fifteenth days of each month. Consequently, her works of this time also contain melancholy expressions, lamenting her husband’s absence. In such lyrics as “Xiaochongshan” (“Tune: Manifold Little Hills”) and “Cui huayin” (“Tipsy in the Flowers’ Shade”), Li often refers to late spring and expresses sadness that her husband is unable to share the splendid season with her. Generally, the beautiful natural scenery described in her poetry becomes an emblem of her own beauty, which awaits appreciation.

In the second year of her marriage, a power struggle broke out at the imperial court, an event that greatly affected Li’s life. Disliked by the new emperor, her father was expelled from his position as vice minister of rituals and was assigned to a provincial position. In an attempt to rescue her father, Li wrote a poem of petition to her father-in-law, Zhao Tingzhi. The poem moved many people but apparently did not save her father, who served the term of five years in confinement. While Li’s father fell into disfavor with the emperor, her father-in-law rose to power and soon became the vice premier. During the redistribution of political power, her father-in-law was engaged in a struggle for political domination with the premier, Cai Jing (Ts’ai Ching), the notorious leader of the New Party. When Zhao finally became the premier, Li wrote and dedicated a poem to him, calling his attention to the inherent danger of becoming an overtly powerful figure. In the midst of this political upheaval, Zhao Mingcheng entered public service. His official career, however, ended abruptly four years later on the death of his father. As Li expected, after Zhao Tingzhi’s death in 1107, the reinstated Cai seized the opportunity to vent his anger on Zhao’s family.

To avoid persecution, Li Qingzhao and her husband moved back to his hometown in the countryside, Qingzhou, and remained there for ten years. Living in a state of seclusion, Li greatly enjoyed her life with her husband. During these years, she helped her husband with the composition of Jin shi lu (a record of bronze and stone vessels), a valuable reference book on Chinese antiquities. Her poetic career continued in the meantime. Because her life at this time was pleasant and peaceful, many of her works were aesthetic studies on the beauty of various flowers cassia, chrysanthemums, lilacs, and plum blossoms. Lacking depth of human emotion or symbolic significance, these poems, such as “Tanpo wan xisha” (“Cassia Flowers, to a New Version of the Silk Washing Brook”) and “Zhegu tian” (“Partridge Sky”), are essentially impressionistic sketches with limited aesthetic merit.

A great change, however, occurred when Li was in her forties a change that enabled her to perfect her art of lyricism. In 1126, several years after her husband resumed his official career, nomads from the northeast of China invaded the capital and captured emperors Huizong and Qinzong (Ch’in-tsung, r. 1125-1126). As a result of this invasion, her husband assumed a new position in the south the following year. Having to prepare to move their belongings, Li stayed behind and did not join him until the next year. Four months or so after she left Qingzhou to join her husband, their house, along with many rich collections, was burned to the ground by a rebellious troop. A year after she joined her husband in the south, her husband was again transferred and compelled to go to his prefecture, Jiankang (Chien-k’ang), by himself. In August of 1129, three months after he became the prefect of Jiankang, Zhao died. The ceaseless warring and the constant separation from and eventual death of her husband made Li particularly aware of the transience of this world. Rather than celebrating the beauty of flowers and the joy of springtime, she expressed the sorrows of separation, loneliness, and death. Because of the depth of feeling, the elegance of language, and the great musicality of her lyrics, many of her works “Wuling chun” (“Spring at Wuling”), “Sheng sheng man” (“A Sad Song to a Slow Tune”), and “Gu yan er” (“On Plum Blossoms, to the Tune of a Little Wild Goose”) among them circulated widely among her contemporaries and became quite popular during her time.

The latter half of 1129 witnessed not only the death of her husband but also another invasion of the nomads. To flee from the enemy, Li followed the central government, wandering from one place to another. Because of her suffering during the war as well as her need for a companion, she married again in 1132. The second marriage, lasting only about three months, ended in disaster. During the following two decades, Li led a relatively quiet life, occasionally contributing verses to the royal family when they celebrated various festivals. Like many of her contemporaries, she became a Buddhist after much suffering. As a result of her belief, her works at the last stage of her life no longer exhibited bitter grief but rather took the form of serene reminiscences of her past life. The theme of transience often manifests itself in her contemplations of the past and present. As indicated by the titles of some of her last works, “Joy of Tranquillity” and “Forever Encountering Mirth,” Li accepted the end of her life with serenity.

Significance

In the long, splendid history of Chinese poetry an area traditionally dominated by men only Li Qingzhao distinguished herself as a woman of great achievement. Shortly after their appearance, her lyrics became the representative voice of the Chinese woman confined to her house for most of her life. Many poets before Li had attempted to represent a woman’s psyche in their poetry, but none was her equal in capturing the nuances of a woman’s inner life. Her portrayal of a woman’s joy and sorrow is equally applicable to the experience of men to the extent that it often comes to represent the joys and sorrows inherent in the human condition. Li’s works not only were popular among the common people but also were greatly admired by the literati. Ever since the appearance of the first anthology of poetry, Shijing (compiled fifth century b.c.e.; The Book of Songs, 1937), many poets who were also officials had assumed the mask of a woman to express their feelings toward their sovereigns. They regarded their relationship to their sovereigns as that of a wife to her husband. In this respect, Li’s lyrical voice agreed with the sensibility of the officials, who often experienced sorrow, though of a different kind, in their relationship to their lords. Consequently, men and women, both educated and uneducated, found solace in Li’s work.

In the history of Chinese poetry, Li’s achievements lie not so much in the nature of her themes love, loneliness, separation, and death as in the manner in which she treats her subjects. Her masterly use of colloquial language, the creation of striking imagery, and the subtle structure of her lyrics place her firmly in a position of enduring literary significance. Because of the popularity of her works, her lyrical style became the model for many later poets and significantly influenced the development of Chinese lyricism, especially those lyrics composed during the time of the Southern Song Dynasty. Apart from being a renowned poet, Li was an accomplished scholar. Completed by her years after her husband’s death, Jin shi lu exhibits Li’s talent for outstanding scholarship. This highly admired work considerably enhanced other scholars’ understanding of the development of ancient Chinese culture.

Bibliography

Chang, Kang-i Sun, and Haun Saussy, eds. Women Writers of Traditional China: An Anthology of Poetry and Criticism. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1999. Part 1 of this anthology contains the poets’ works, divided by dynasty, and part 2 contains criticism. Biographies of the poets, including Li Qingzhao, are included. Bibliography and index.

Hu, P’ing-ch’ing. Li Ch’ing-chao. New York: Twayne, 1966. This critical study on Li Qingzhao treats both her life and her works in great detail and provides one with a clear sense of her achievements. Most of her famous poems are translated in a lucid, though sometimes prosaic, style.

Li Qingzhao. As Though Dreaming: The Tz’u of Pure Jade. Translated by Lenore Mayhew and William McNaughton. Berkeley, Calif.: Serendipity Books, 1977. A collection of Li Qingzhao’s poetry.

Li Qingzhao. Li Ch’ing-chao: Complete Poems. Translated and edited by Kenneth Rexroth and Ling Chung. New York: New Directions, 1979. A collection of Li Qingzhao’s poetry, with critical notes and a biography.

Li Qingzhao. Plum Blossom: Poems of Li Qingzhao. Translated by James Cryer. Chapel Hill, N.C.: Carolina Wren Press, 1984. A translation of poetry by Li Qingzhao, with illustrations.

Rexroth, Kenneth, and Ling Chung, eds. Women Poets of China. Rev. ed. New York: New Directions, 1990. This collection of works by women poets of China, which first was published in the 1970’, contains works by Li Qingzhao and other notable poets.

Yang, Vincent. “Vision of Reconciliation: A Textual Reading of Some Lines of Li Qing-zhao.” Journal of the Chinese Language Teachers Association 19 (1984): 10-32. This essay is a close reading of four representative poems by Li Qingzhao. Focusing on the imagery and structure of the poems, the author attempts to show Li’s art of lyricism. At the end, the particular nature of her imagination is illustrated through her use of poetic techniques. The analysis is an application of Western literary criticism to Chinese poetry.