Chinese Poetry Studies. Issue 2, Li Shangyin Research Special Issue

Author: Anhui Normal University, China Poetry Research
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-12-01
Features: The Wang Meng Li Shangyin Research Society has been established for ten years now. The 1st annual meeting was held in Pingle, Guangxi in 1992, the 2nd in Wenzhou, the 3rd in Yantai, the 4th in Bo'ai, the 5th in Guilin, and the 6th came to Wuhu. This is a wonderful story, a gem in the history of Chinese poetry research. Li Shangyin has never been given such importance. According to Chinese tradition, Li Shangyin has never been highly regarded since ancient times, and people have always held back in their evaluations of him. This is because his poems are not particularly optimistic, with more pessimistic and melancholic emotions. Whenever I read Li Shangyin's works, I often think of Jia Zheng scolding Jia Baoyu in Dream of the Red Chamber. Baoyu's talent is far greater than his father's, but Jia Zheng always sternly criticized him, saying that Baoyu lacked ambition, optimism, and the grand passion to embrace the universe. Therefore, even though Baoyu wrote excellent poems, Jia Zheng would change his expression and say, "depressing," which is somewhat similar to how some parents today scold their children for being "good for nothing and always playing computer games." Li Shangyin's poems have long been in this situation. I don’t know how his birth chart worked out, but in the 1990s, China actually established the Li Shangyin Research Society, and over the past ten years, annual meetings have been held continuously. I think if Li Shangyin knew about this from the afterlife, he would feel relieved. This book is a collection of thematic essays on Li Shangyin research. Li Shangyin achieved great success in both poetry and parallel prose composition. In this collection, the 1st essay is Wang Meng’s "On the ‘Senseless’," which specifically explores the multiple interpretive dimensions of Li Shangyin’s poetry; the 2nd essay, Liu Xuekai’s "White Portraiture in the Realm of Yuxi," targets the impressions of Li’s poetry in traditional critical frameworks, revealing the elegant and ethereal white portrayal technique in Li’s poems, which is refreshing to the ears. Additionally, essays by scholars from Taiwan introducing the history and current state of Li Shangyin research in Taiwan are also worth referencing. In summary, this book compiles the latest achievements in Li Shangyin research.