Biography of Li Shangyin (Volume 1 and 2)

Author: Liu Xuekai
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-06-01
Features: The book is divided into three parts: the Upper Part, the Lower Part, and the Appendix. The Upper Part primarily narrates the general life of the subject, covering his birth era, family background, early life, and later experiences such as imperial examinations, official travels, joining courts, and marriage. The Lower Part transforms the objective historical context into a unique literary one, reviewing the poetic and political scenes of the early late Tang Dynasty and providing a detailed discussion of Li Shangyin's creative thoughts, personality, and creative periods. On this basis, his works are classified and analyzed thematically: political poems, historical poems, object poems, untitled poems, love poems, and nuns' poems, etc. It also includes a classification by literary forms: seven-character regulated verse, seven-character quatrains, other poetic forms, parallel prose, argumentative prose, fu, and classical prose, etc. Furthermore, it compares the connection between Li Shangyin and Song Yu in the tradition of classical literary melancholy and the relationship between Li Shangyin's poems and the subsequent Tang and Song lyrical ci. The Appendix introduces the current state of Li Shangyin studies in academia, including an overview of Li Shangyin studies in different dynasties, an overview of Li Shangyin studies in mainland China in the 20th century, a discussion of the version system of Li Shangyin's collected poems, divergences and reconciliations, and the phenomenon of Li Shangyin in classical literary studies, etc.
However, during the planning process, it was discovered that for a subject as unique as Li Shangyin, a purely biographical form could not fully accommodate a systematic critical study of his literary works. This is primarily because his most accomplished works—such as untitled poems, love poems, historical poems, and object poems—are largely unchronicled, making it difficult to integrate them into a biography alongside his life and official career for comprehensive discussion. Therefore, a combined approach of horizontal and vertical analysis, termed "biography-critique," is necessary to fully reflect his life experiences, personality, and achievements in literary creation.