Li Shangyin
Li Shangyin | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | c. 813 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | c. 858 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Poet, politician | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 李商隱 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 李商隐 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Japanese name | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Kanji | 李商隠 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Hiragana | り しょういん | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Li Shangyin (c. 813–858), courtesy name Yishan (Chinese: 義山), was a Chinese poet and politician of the late Tang Dynasty, born in Henei (now Qinyang, Henan). He was "rediscovered" in the 20th century by young Chinese writers. He is noted for the imagist quality of his poems and his tantalizing "no title" (wútí, 無題) poems. Li Shangyin has been frequently anthologized and many of his poems have been translated into various languages, including several collections in English.
Biography
Li Shangyin was born about 812 or 813, but the exact date is uncertain.[1] Li Shangyin's career was rough, and he never obtained a high position, either because of factional disputes, or because of his association with Liu Fen (劉蕡), a prominent opponent of the eunuchs.
Historical background
Li Shangyin lived at a time when the Tang Dynasty; which, after some two hundred years of glorious reign, was fast declining.
Culturally, politically and economically the Tang was one of the great periods of Chinese history. The cosmopolitan capital of Chang'an was filled with traders from the Middle East and other parts of Asia where many Asian vassal states sent envoys to pay tribute. The empire covered a vast territory, the largest yet in the history of China. The nation, under the reign of Emperors Gaozuyi, through Taizong, Empress Wu, and to the time of Emperor Xuanzong, steadily grew to the height of its prosperity.
However, after the An Lushan Rebellion, the political and economic structure of the country began to disintegrate. The rebel generals fighting against the Tang court during and after the An Lushan Rebellion were allowed to surrender and given military governor posts even after the leaders of the rebellion were vanquished. Peace and stability over the entire area of Hebei was heavily bought by a compromise settlement. These provincial governors paid only lip service to the central government. The court, now weak and impotent, tolerated their growing independence, wary also of the aggression of the Tibetans to the north-west who posed a constant threat to the capital.
During the subsequent years, military governors repeatedly challenged imperial authority with attempts to claim hereditary succession, resulting in revolts and bloodshed. Apart from this loss of control over the provincial military leaders and other problems at the frontiers, the Tang court was internally plagued by the increasingly powerful eunuchs and the fierce Niu-Li factional strife.
Rise of the eunuchs
The eunuchs first gained political influence as a group when Gao Lishi helped Emperor Xuanzong in his rise in power. Later, Li Fuguo also helped to put Su-zong on his throne. By gaining royal patronage eunuchs gradually controlled personal access to the emperors and participated in the business of the central government. They also involved themselves with provincial appointments, at times, even intervening with armed forces in disputes over imperial successions. By the time of Li Shangyin, the emperors had allowed the eunuchs to become fully entrenched both militarily and politically. After Xianzong, all Tang emperors (except Jingzong) were put on the throne by the eunuchs.
Sweet Dew Incident
In 835, the infamous "Sweet Dew Incident" occurred during the reign of Emperor Wenzong. A palace coup designed by Li Xun (the prime-minister) and Zheng Zhu (the military governor of Feng Xiang) support of Wenzong's effort to overthrow the eunuchs failed. The eunuchs, led by Qiu Shiliang, slaughtered the clans of many high officials and chief ministers. A great many other innocent people were killed in connection with this event. The eunuchs whose power had been growing out of control now completely dominated the Emperor and the affairs of state.
Niu-Li factional strife
The Niu-Li factional strife was another destructive internal force haunting the Tang court. The Niu and Li factions were not organized political parties, but two groups of rival politicians, hostile toward each other as a result of some personal animosity. The head of the Niu faction was represented by Niu Sengru and Li Zongmin and the Li faction by Li Deyu. In the 830s, the two contending factions created much turmoil in court through the reigns of Muzong, Jingzong, Wenzong, Wuzong and Xuanzong, a period coinciding almost exactly with Li Shangyin's life. According to Chen Yinke, the struggle was also due to a difference in social background between the two groups, one representing the traditional ruling class of North China, and the other, the newly risen class of scholar-officials who reached their positions through the civil service examinations. In any case, many intellectuals and high officials were involved in this struggle. Whenever members of one faction were in power, people associated with the other faction would be demoted, or out of favor. The factional strife kept court officials from uniting against the increasing power of the eunuchs.
Decline of the eunuchs
The emperors, rendered completely helpless, tried to play one force against another. It was some fifty years after Li Shangyin's death that the eunuchs were finally eradicated with the help of the military governors, precipitating the downfall of Tang. The forty-five years of Li-Shangyin's life covered the reign of six emperors. Among them, Xianzong and Jingzong were murdered by the eunuchs. Muzong, Wuzong and Xuanzong indulged in escapist practices, dying, in the case of Wuzong, of an overdose of elixir drugs.
Works
Li Shangyin is well known for his poetry. In the much published editions of the poetry anthology Three Hundred Tang Poems, the number of Li Shangyin's included poems rank below only Du Fu, Li Bai, and Wang Wei (respectively). However, Li Shangyin's poetry distinguishes itself from mainstream Classical Chinese poetry due to his extensive use of the love of women as a major theme.[2] Li Shangyin's poems are also distinguished by the many collected verses published with no title.[3]
Li was a typical Late Tang poet: his works are sensuous, dense and allusive. The latter quality makes adequate translation extremely difficult. The political, biographical or philosophical implications supposed to be contained in some of his poems have been a subject of debate for many centuries in China.
Although more famous for his sensuous poems, Li indeed wrote in many styles, sometimes be satirical, humorous or sentimental. Moreover, some ancient critics hold that he is the only poet who, in some of his poems, succeeds in imitating the masculine quality of Du Fu's works.
Poetic style
Li Shangyin typically wrote his poetry in the various Classical Chinese poetry forms, some of his poems being in the poetic forms whose development is associated with Tang poetry and some which hearkens back to much older forms. The Chinese critical tradition tends to depict Li Shangyin as the Tang dynasty's last great poet.[4] The Tang dynasty ended in the 907, and after a period of disunity was succeeded by the Sung dynasty in 960. The Sung poetry style, although drawing on the traditional forms, is especially noted for the development of the ci (also transliterated as t'zu) form, which was characterized by providing fresh lyrics to fixed-meter tunes and by the inclusion of romantic and even erotic themes, which themes were often viewed as embarrassing by traditional scholars. Li Shangyin's poetry forms an important transitional role as part of this developmental process.[5][6]
Poems
Of Li Shangyin's poems some have had more attention paid to them over the centuries than others. One of his famous and cryptic poems "Jin Se" (錦瑟) (the title is only taken from the first two characters of the poem, since the poem is one of Li's "no title" poems), which consists of 56 characters and a string of images. His "no title" poems are regarded as "pure poetry" by some modern critics.
Translations
Li Shangyin's poetry has been translated into various languages, including English.
Sample poem
高閣客竟去， 小園花亂飛。
參差連曲陌， 迢遞送斜暉。
腸斷未忍掃， 眼穿仍欲歸。
芳心向春盡， 所得是沾衣。
Gone is the guest from the Chamber of Rank,
And petals, confused in my little garden,
Zigzagging down my crooked path,
Escort like dancers the setting sun.
Oh, how can I bear to sweep them away?
To a sad-eyed watcher they never return.
Heart's fragrance is spent with the ending of spring
And nothing left but a tear-stained robe.— Translated by Witter Bynner, in Tang Shi San Bai Shou (300 Tang Poems)[7]
Influence
In 1968, Roger Waters of the rock band Pink Floyd borrowed lines from his poetry to create the lyrics for the song "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" from the band's second album A Saucerful of Secrets.
Part of a poem by Li Shangyin is recited by a minor character in the Mortuary in the role-playing video game Planescape: Torment.
More recently, Li Shangyin's poem, "When Will I Be Home?" is alluded to and quoted from by Hig, the protagonist of Peter Heller's 2012 novel, The Dog Stars. The novel ends with a reprinting of the poem in full.
His name is mentioned and his poem is quoted in the Korean TV Series Gu-am Heo Jun, Episode 119.
Notes
References
- Chen, Bohai, "Li Shangyin". Encyclopedia of China (Chinese Literature Edition), 1st ed.
- Bynner, Witter Tang Shi San Bai Shou (300 Tang Poems) Alfred A.Knopf:New York, 1920.
- Graham, A. C. (1977). Poems of the Late T'ang. New York, New York: The New York Review of Books. ISBN 978-1-59017-257-5
- Hinton, David (2008). Classical Chinese Poetry: An Anthology. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. ISBN 0374105367 / ISBN 9780374105365
- Yu, Teresa Yee-Wah. 2011. "Li Shangyin : The Poetry of Allusion." Retrospective Theses and Dissertations, 1919-2007. T, University of British Columbia. doi:10.14288/1.0100506.
External links
- Poems by Li Shang-yin
- Biography, Chinese texts and translations.
- Regulated verses of Li Shangyin, with English translation, pinyin transliteration, and tonal patterns.
- Works by or about Li Shangyin at the Internet Archive
- Works by Li Shangyin at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- Books of the Quan Tangshi that include collected poems of Li Shangyin at the Chinese Text Project:
- Li Shangyin's Tang 300 poems at the University of Virginia Library
