Life and Death at Stake (A Philosophical Interpretation of Li He's Poetry)

Author: Liu Shilin, Editor-in-Chief; Liao Mingjun, Author
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-03-01
Features: Li He is renowned as the "Poet Demon" and holds a unique yet controversial position in the history of Chinese literature. This book approaches Li He's poetry from the perspective of life philosophy, drawing on theories from psychology, aesthetics, sociology, theology, and mythology to conduct a comprehensive and systematic philosophical interpretation and analysis. It not only captures the essence of Li He's profound academic insights and poetic passion, focusing on the queries of the famous Tang Dynasty "demon poet" Li He regarding human life's pursuit of fame, pleasure, suffering, love, war, history, death, and eternity, but also reveals that the philosophical significance and spiritual essence of Li He's poetry lie in the poeticization of life philosophy. Furthermore, it highlights how Li He, using the thinking of Easterners and the poetic wisdom of the Chinese, employs highly artistic and poetic language to explore three distinct states of life—human, demon, and adorned—through the construction of past, present, and future, as well as the mortal world, the underworld, and the heavens. This achieves a specific temporal and spatial transformation, offering a uniquely brilliant answer to the fundamental and core philosophical question of "Who am I? Where do I come from? Where am I going?" Thus, it deciphers the life mysteries and cultural connotations embedded in Li He's poetry.