Li Qingzhao

Li Qingzhao, 12th-century Chinese poet, is the subject of a new book by Ronald Egan, Confucius Institute Professor of Sinology at Stanford.

Li Qingzhao was born 1084 in Zhangqiu, Shandong province. She originated from a noble scholar-official family and was exposed to many modes literature as a child. She is, today, known as the greatest female writer in premodern China and her poems primarily focus on her solitude while her husband was away. She masterfully employs the use of wine and intoxication and wrote extensively about imagery and her surrounding environment, with a connection to nature as well. Much of her work was lost or remains in fragments, and only about a hundred of her poems have survived. Nonetheless, her poems remain one of the most popular bodies of work in premodern Chinese history and is continually studied by scholars to this day. ​

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Joy of Wine

Themes: Nature, Isolation

Poem:

Summary:

I remember in Hsi T'ing
All the many times
We got lost in the sunset,
Happy with wine,
And could not find our way back.
When the evening came,
Exhausted with pleasure,
We turned our boat.
By mistake we found ourselves even deeper
In thee clusters of lotus blossoms,
And startled the gulls and egrets
From the sand bars.
They crowded into the air
And hastily flapped away
​To the opposite shore.

This poem describes the memory that a female speaker has with a companion, sharing experiences together with alcohol on a boat. There is a certain timeless nature described by the carefree atmosphere, as they are in no rush to return to where they came from and display a certain level of disarray because they get lost within lotus flowers and accidentally scare all of the birds on the sandbank.

Analysis:

Our theme of dreams is represented in the poem when it begins with “I remember”, which signifies that the speaker is recollecting an experience or a series of experiences that occurred in the past. To pair, there is a focus on wine as the impetus for the free-spirit, altered state that the characters are experiencing. The alcohol promotes a pleasurable evening that is full of freedom and fluidity, as the companions are not concerned about the time. Additionally, wine engenders a certain excitement and dreamlike wonderland that stimulates the emotions in the characters’ as well as a certain level of wandering and forgetfulness. She describes a tranquil, rich imagery of lotus blossoms and a sand bank of gulls and egrets that is disrupted by the pair, as the influence of alcohol and the comfort of physically being in a carefree state. This beautiful setting is surrounded by nature, and her and presumably her lover both enjoy outdoor activities in which they are engrossed with their surroundings. While different than the sorrow that drinking wine promotes when in a certain state of mind as well as a quest for immortality, Li Qingzhao deliberately uses wine in combination with a remembrance of the past to show the vitality and youthfulness of the young couple as well as to express a return to nature and the freedom it offers.

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Spring Ends

Themes: Nature, Isolation

Poem:

Summary:

Last night fine rain, gusts of wind,
Deep sleep could not dissolve the leftover wine.
I asked my maid as she rolled up the curtains,
"Are the begonias still the same?"
"Don't you know it is time
​For the green to grow fat and the red to grow thin?"

There is a connection between being in a state of sleeping and alcohol in this poem that are tied to nature and the changing of the seasons. A turbulent night of storms juxtaposes the drunken state of the speaker, who is in a deep sleep.

Analysis:

There is a transition between spring and summer depicted by the changing of the imagery from growing green leaves and weaning red flowers. Li Qingzhao contrasts the imminent arrival of summer brought about by the rain with her deep, drunken trance. The deep state of sleep is symbolic of passing time, but yet the lack of awareness in asking the maid whether the flowers have changed indicate the altered state engendered by wine, which was “leftover” from the spring. The passing of time through a drunken, turbulent sleep is reminiscent of the passing of time of the new rain and storms that signal the arrival of big, green leaves that have been sufficiently watered and the departure of vibrant, red flowers. These ruby red flowers also pair with the redness of wine, meaning that Li Qingzhao uses the combination of the flower’s and wine’s color imagery to demonstrate the changing of the seasons and therefore the passage of time. Additionally, this poem resembles the Neo-daoist theme of withdrawal from public life and society for pleasure, as the speaker’s drunken slumber indicates this sort of separation from the outside world that is only broken through a human medium of asking the maid. 

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Unknown Title

Themes: Nature, Loneliness, Sorrow

Poem:

Summary:

The sky turns,
The Autumn light turns,
And my heart aches.
I visit the golden flowers
And realize that the Ninth Day of the Ninth Month
Will soon be here.
 try on a new dress
And taste the new green thick wine.
By turns the weather is windy, rainy, and chilly.
As the orange twilight fills the courtyard
I am overwhelmed with anxiety.
The wine awakens all the sorrow of the past in my breast.
How can I bear the endless night,
The full moon's light on our empty bed,
The sound of the fullers' mallets,
Beating cloth for winter,
The shrill crying of the crickets,
​And the lingering notes of the bugles?​

The poem discusses the upcoming double Ninth festival in which family members usually gather together, but the speaker comes from a point of despair and loneliness because her lover is not with her. She describes the torturous, endless night brought about by cold, dark, and rainy weather and is full of anxiety and sadness. ​

Analysis:

As autumn approaches winter and the speaker thinks about the double Ninth festival, she is reminded of the loneliness she experiences without her lover. She makes all the preparations for the festival, such as trying on a new dress and visiting the golden flowers, and tasting the new green wine, but yet the only element that is missing is her deep-rooted love for her companion who is not present. She indulges herself in wine but the alcohol brings about this reinforcing cycle of grief that is buried inside her heart, meaning that this pain is long-seated, ongoing, and ever-present. As winter approaches and the weather gets colder, one relies on the company and love from a romantic partner, but yet this woman is left in her sorrow. Nature serves as a reminder of the changing of the seasons and the passing of time, but also is an inhibitor for the woman’s happiness because it brings about anxiety and depression. She dreams about her lover, and although nature usually represents renewal in the sense of beauty, in this case it serves the function of introducing a bleak atmosphere for the speaker and the sorrows of her past.