Li Shangyin | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Native name | 李商隱 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 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 (Chinese:李商隱;pinyin:Lǐ Shāngyǐn,c. 813–858),courtesy nameYishan (Chinese:義山), was aChinesepoet andpolitician of the lateTang dynasty, born in theHenei Commandery (nowQinyang,Henan). He is noted for hisimagist and "no-title" (Chinese:無題;pinyin:wútí) poetic style. Li has been frequently anthologized, and many of his poems have been translated into various languages, including several collections in English.[1][2]
Li Shangyin was born in 812 or 813 CE. The exact date is uncertain.[3] His career was rough, and he never obtained a high-ranking position, because of either factional disputes or his association withLiu Fen (劉蕡), a prominent opponent of theeunuchs.[4]
Li lived at a time when theTang dynasty was rapidly declining, after 200 years of prosperity.[5]
Culturally, politically, and economically, the Tang was one of the greatest periods in Chinese history. The cosmopolitan capital ofChang'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 Chinese history. Under the reign of EmperorsGaozuyi throughTaizong,Empress Wu, andEmperor Xuanzong, the Tang empire steadily grew to the height of its prosperity.[citation needed]
But after theAn Lushan Rebellion, the country's political and economic structure began to disintegrate. The rebel generals fighting against the Tang court during and after the rebellion were allowed to surrender and given military governor posts, even after the rebellion's leaders were vanquished. Peace and stability over the entire area ofHebei 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 theTibetans toward the northwest who posed a constant threat to the capital.[citation needed]
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 fierceNiu–Li factional strife.[citation needed]
The eunuchs first gained political influence as a group whenGao Lishi helpedEmperor Xuanzong rise to power. Later,Li Fuguo also helped putEmperor Suzong on the 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 Xuanzong, all Tang emperors (except Jingzong) were put on the throne by the eunuchs.[citation needed]
In 835 the infamous"Sweet Dew Incident" occurred during the reign ofEmperor Wenzong. A palace coup, designed byLi Xun (the prime minister) andZheng Zhu (the military governor ofFengxiang) in support of Wenzong's effort to overthrow the eunuchs, failed. The eunuchs, led byQiu Shiliang, slaughtered the clans of many high officials and chief ministers. 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.[citation needed]
TheNiu-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 personal animosity. The Niu faction was represented byNiu Sengru andLi Zongmin and the Li faction byLi Deyu. In the 830s the two contending factions created much turmoil in court through the reigns of EmperorsMuzong,Jingzong,Wenzong,Wuzong, andXuanzong, a period coinciding almost exactly with Li Shangyin's life.[5] According toChen 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. When members of one faction were in power, people associated with the other would be demoted, or out of favor. The factional strife kept court officials from uniting against the increasing power of the eunuchs.[citation needed]
The emperors, rendered completely helpless, tried to play one force against another. It was 50 years after Li Shangyin's death that the eunuchs were finally eradicated with the help of the military governors, precipitating the Tang dynasty's downfall. The 45 years of Li Shangyin's life spanned the reign of six emperors. Among them, Xianzong and Jingzong were murdered by the eunuchs. Muzong, Wuzong, and Xuanzong indulged in escapist practices; Wuzong, for example, died of an overdose of elixir drugs.[citation needed]
Li Shangyin is well known for his poetry. In the many published editions of the poetry anthologyThree Hundred Tang Poems, the number of his poems ranks below onlyDu Fu,Li Bai, andWang Wei. Li's poetry is distinguished from mainstreamClassical Chinese poetry by his extensive use of love as a major theme as well as the unconventional decision to leave many collected verses untitled.[6][7]
Li was a typical Late Tang poet: his works were sensuous, dense and allusive. The latter quality made adequate translation extremely difficult. The political, biographical, or philosophical implications contained in some of his poems have been a subject of debate for many centuries in China.[citation needed]
Li's poetry takes variousClassical Chinese poetry forms. The Chinese critical tradition tends to depict Li as theTang dynasty's last great poet.[8] The Tang dynasty ended in 907 CE and, after a period of disunity, was succeeded by theSong dynasty in 960 CE. TheSong poetry style, although drawing on traditional forms, is especially noted for the development of theci (Wade-Giles:t'zu) form, which was characterized by providing fresh lyrics to fixed-meter tunes. Li Shangyin's poetry played an important transitional role as part of this developmental process.[9][8]James J. Y. Liu, who shared the first comprehensive collection of English translations of Li's poetry,[10] described him as "one of the most ambiguous if not the most ambiguous poets."[11]
Li's most famous and cryptic poem is arguably "Jin Se", or "Chin-se" (錦瑟) ("The Brocade Zither", also translated as "The Ornamented Zither"[12] or "The Exquisite Zither"[13]) (the title is taken from the first two characters of the first verse, as this is one of Li's "no title" poems) (original text and translation seen below), consisting of 56 characters and a string of images.[14][15]
James J. Y. Liu noted that there were five major interpretations of what Li intended to convey, including frustration about his career trajectory and commemoration of his deceased wife, among others.[12]
Derangements of My Contemporaries (Za Zuan,雜纂, or "random compilations") was not viewed as poetry nor prose in Li's lifetime, but some scholars considered it a precedent forThe Pillow Book authored bySei Shōnagon, and believed that it offered a peak into theTang dynasty beyond its classic image of a cultural "golden age".[16]
Chloe Garcia Roberts translated it in 2013 with a grant fromPEN America.[17][18] The volume was published in 2014 withNew Directions.[19]Lucas Klein ofArizona State University, another key translator of Li's poetry,[20][21] described Roberts' work as a "small rebirth of the poetic vanguard of Chinese poetry translation" in a 2016Los Angeles Review of Books essay titledTribunals of Erudition and Taste: or, Why Translations of Premodern Chinese Poetry Are Having a Moment Right Now.[16]
The Brocade Zither (Chin-se, 錦瑟)
錦瑟無端五十弦， | It just happens that the brocade zither has fifty strings, |
—Translated byStephen Owen inThe Late Tang: Chinese Poetry of the Mid-Ninth Century (827–860)[22]
I wonder why this splendid zither has fifty strings
Every string, every peg evokes those glorious springs
Perplexed as the sage, waking from his butterfly dream
Like the king, entrust to the cuckoo my heart evergreen
The moon bathes the teardrop pearl in the blue sea
The sun lights the radiant jade in indigo mountain
These feelings remain a cherished memory
But I was already lost at that moment
—Alternate translation by Lien W.S. and Foo C.W. inTang Poems Revisited,[13] and as cited by Maja Lavrač of theUniversity of Ljubljana inLi Shangyin and the Art of Poetic Ambiguity.[5]
Falling Petals (Luo-hua, 落花)
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 byWitter Bynner, inTang Shi San Bai Shou (300 Tang Poems)[23]
Untitled (Wu-ti, 無題)
相见时难别亦难，东风无力百花残。
春蚕到死丝方尽，蜡炬成灰泪始干。
晓镜但愁云鬓改，夜吟应觉月光寒。
蓬山此去无多路，青鸟殷勤为探看。
It’s hard to be together harder yet apart
Flowers wilt in frost while memories last
Like silk exhaust until the worm depart
And candle melts like teardrops fast
Vexed with grey hair in the mirror behold
My lady moan in the moonlight cold
The paths to Mystic Hill are few
Caladrius please give my love a view.
In 1968,Roger Waters of the rock bandPink Floyd borrowed lines from Li's poetry to create the lyrics for the song "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" from the band's second albumA Saucerful of Secrets.[citation needed]
More recently, Li Shangyin's poem "When Will I Be Home?" is alluded to and quoted from by the protagonist of Peter Heller's 2012 novel,The Dog Stars. The novel ends with a reprinting of the poem in full.[24]
His name is mentioned, and one of his poems is quoted, in Episode 119 of the Korean TV series구암 허준.[citation needed]
