The Collected Poems of Li Shangyin with Annotations

Author: Zheng Zaijing (Compiler)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2001-08-01
Features: Li Shangyin (813-858), styled Yishan, known as Yuxisheng, was from Huai County, Huai Prefecture (now Qinyang County, Henan Province). During the late Tang Dynasty, factional struggles within the ruling group were intense. Li Shangyin was associated with both the Liu Faction and the Li Faction of the time. In his youth, he was recognized and recommended by Niugong Chu of the Niu Faction, passing the imperial examinations, and later was recruited as a son-in-law by Wang Maoyuan of the Li Faction. As a result, the Niu Faction accused him of being ungrateful. After the Niu Faction came to power, he suffered political suppression and frustration, becoming a victim of the factional struggle between the Niu and Li factions. He died in Xingyang at the age of 46. Li Shangyin's poetry includes works that express his political disappointments, reflections on the political life of the late Tang Dynasty, odes to history with allegorical criticisms of the present, and untitled poems describing love, which were particularly favored by later readers. His poetry achieved unique artistic accomplishments, with innovative structures, exquisite wording, rich imagination, strict metrical rules, and a graceful, lingering style. However, some of his works are overly sentimental, heavily laden with allusions, and obscurely difficult to interpret. His collected poems are titled The Collected Poems of Li Yishan.