Li Shangyin Collection -- Basic Collection of Chinese Family Bookshelves

Author: Zhang Qiang, Liu Haining
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2004-01-01
Features: Li Shangyin (c. 813–c. 858), a Tang Dynasty poet. His courtesy name was Yishan, and he was also known as Yuxisheng and Fannanzizi. His ancestral home was in He’ni (now Qinyang, Henan), and his ancestors later moved to Xingyang (now part of Henan). He initially studied classical prose. He was appreciated by Linghu Chu of the Niu Party and joined his entourage, studying parallel prose under him. In the second year of the Kaicheng era (837), with Linghu’s help, he passed the imperial examination. The following year, he joined the entourage of Wang Maoyuan, the military governor of Jingyuan under the Li Party, who admired his talent and married his daughter to him. As a result, he was persecuted by the Niu Party and spent his life moving between the courts of various vassal states, never achieving success. About 600 of Li Shangyin’s poems survive. His political poems are full of lament and satire, showing depth and breadth. Many of his poems directly address current affairs, especially "A Hundred Rhymes on Passing West Suburbs," which reflects on the decline and rise of the Tang Dynasty over 200 years through the desolate scenes of rural life and the suffering of the people. Its style is close to that of Du Fu. "The Tower of An Ding" and the four poems mourning Liu Zhu reflect his political ambitions and indignation. His historical poems, which use the past to critique the present, have achieved great success. These poems often mock the extravagance and misrule of emperors from past or contemporary dynasties, while others use historical themes to express his own feelings of unfulfilled talent. These poems mostly use regulated quatrains, capturing specific scenes from history and painting them vividly, achieving an artistic effect of seeing the big in the small and conveying profound meaning with subtle words. Famous examples include "Two Poems on the Sui Palace" and "The Southern Dynasties." His lyrical poems are deeply emotional and delicate, filled with a sense of melancholy, such as "The setting sun is infinitely beautiful, but it is near dusk" ("Ascending Leiyuan Terrace"). Li Shangyin’s lyrical poems rarely express emotions directly but instead focus on conveying meaning through subtlety. His poems often carry deep and subtle emotions, leaving a lasting impression. However, his deliberate pursuit of intricacy sometimes makes them obscure and difficult to understand. His descriptive poems are precise and detailed in their portrayal, capturing the essence of things through the depiction of typical characteristics and the of the surrounding atmosphere, while also expressing the author’s sentiments. The "Untitled Poems" are Li Shangyin’s unique creation. Most of them are on the theme of love and longing between men and women, with emotions that are tender and profound, and elegant and exquisite language. For example, "Last night the stars, last night the wind" and "Meeting is hard, parting is also hard." Some also use metaphors to express friendships and personal reflections, such as "When the moon has already set by the time your lover arrives" and "Where does the mournful zither follow the urgent pipes." There are also some poems with unclear themes. Additionally, there are a few poems with erotic themes that are frivolous and overly ornate. These poems were not written at one time or place and do not follow a unified theme. They are often named "Untitled Poems" because their meaning is too subtle or complex to be explicitly stated. Over the centuries, their interpretations have varied widely. The basic style of Li Shangyin’s poetry is deep in emotion and subtle in language, often blending melancholy with beauty, and grace with weight. His poems have had a profound influence on the later poetic and lyrical traditions. His poems inherit a wide range of styles. His regulated quatrains are particularly outstanding, inheriting Du Fu’s precision and rhythm while also incorporating the charm of the poetry of the Qi and Liang dynasties, the clarity of the folk songs of the Six Dynasties, and the fantastical and symbolic techniques of Li He’s poetry. His lyrical style, with its hidden meanings, is influenced by Ruan Ji. Some of his long classical poems, such as "The Stele of Han," resemble Han Yu’s songs. Some lyrical and descriptive short poems are natural and elegant, retaining the charm of the high Tang Dynasty’s quatrains. Li Shangyin was a representative writer of parallel prose in the late Tang Dynasty. His parallel prose is meticulous in parallelism, precise in the use of allusions, balanced in density and simplicity, and natural in rhythm and spirit.