⬅️宋词 Ci Poems
Li Qingzhao (李清照, 1084-1155 AD) was a great Ci poet of Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD) and was one of the few female poets in Chinese history. She was born into a scholar-official family. Her father had large collection of books at home which gave her an opportunity to read extensively at young age. As a teenager, she gained quick reputation for her literary talent among the scholar-literati with her debut Ci poem To the Tune of Rumengling (Like A Dream, 如梦令).
At age of 18, she married Zhao Mingcheng (赵明诚), a young scholar and an epigraphy expert from the similar literati background. Li Qingzhao and her husband shared the same interest in art collection and poetry. Zhao Mingcheng was still a student of the imperial college by that time. On the first day and the fifteenth day of very month, he could take some time off and went home. Every time before he went home, Zhao would pawn several clothes and go to market to buy some calligraphy and inscription rubbings and snacks. Then the couple enjoyed the foods and appreciated the art together. But the quiet and carefree days did not last long. Both Li Qingzhao's father and her father-in-law were involved in the factional strife at the imperial court. In 1107 AD, the couple was forced to leave the capital city and moved to Qingzhou, Shandong (山东青州). Li Qingzhao spent the next 20 years in Shandong, sometimes following her husband to move from city to city because of the change of his posts. Although they were not living a wealthy life, they continued the collection of books, calligraphy, paintings and other art works. They shared the love of poetry and often wrote poems for each other. Li Qingzhao's poetry in this stage of her life was mainly the reminiscence of her life in the scholar-literati circle and love poems between the couple. But her life took a turn.
In 1127 AD, Kaifeng, the capital city of Song Dynasty fell to the Jurchen-led Jin Dynasty (金国，1115-1234 AD). Both Emperor Huizong and Emperor Qinzong of Song were captured by Jurchens. The newly enthroned Emperor Gaozong and the remnants of the imperial family fled to southern China and finally settled in Lin'an (modern day Hangzhou). This was called Jing-Kang Incident in history, which marked the end of Northern Song Dynasty and the beginning of Southern Song Dynasty. The incident was also the dividing line of Li Qingzhao's poetry and her life. To follow the imperial court to retreat, Li Qingzhao and her husband took 15 carts of books with them and had to leave most of their collections, filled in more than 10 rooms, in Qingzhou, Shandong. The collections were destroyed when their house was burned during the Qingzhou mutiny. In the next four years, Li Qingzhao fled further to the south, after brief stays in six or seven cities. Every time a city that she took refuge fell to Jurchens and she had to run, Li Qingzhao lost some of the collections. When Li Qingzho finally arrived Yue (越， modern day Shaoxing, Zhejiang), all of the collections were lost. Another tragedy that stroke Li Qingzhao hard was the death of her husband Zhao Mingcheng, who died in 1129 while on his way to a post. In 1134, after she finally settled in Hangzhou, Li Qingzhao completed her husband's book Calligraphy on Bronze and Stone (金石录) and continued her writing of poems. In this stage of her life, the theme of her Ci poetry shifted from the portrait of her early peaceful life as a high society woman to the concern about her war-torn country, the bitter feeling of being forced to wander from place to place and the misery of being helpless.
Li Qingzhao was briefly married to a man named Zhang Ruzhou (张汝舟) after the death of her husband. But after Zhang learned that Qingzhao had lost all of her collections, he started to abuse her. To divorce him, Li Qingzhao reported his embezzlement to the imperial court. According to the law of Song Dynasty, if a wife accused her husband at the court, she would be sentenced to jail for three years. So although Li Qingzhao got the divorce she wanted, she had to go to jail. But she only stayed in prison for 9 days after some influential scholars-officials came to her rescue. During this period, in addition to her poetry, Li Qingzhao also wrote an essay named The Classics of Da Ma to explain the rules of Da Ma, Li Qingzhao's favorite gambling game. It is from the preface of this book we learn another aspect of Li Qingzhao's character. She called herself an enthusiastic and keen gambler who was interested in all kind of games. She often played the game day and night and rarely lost. She attributed her success to concentration and ridiculed her contemporaries for not only being unable to master Confucianism, but also being lame at gambling games. Li Qingzhao explained in the preface that gambling was nothing but to find the edge therefore only the people who could stay focused can master it. In 1155 AD, she passed away in loneliness.
That is Li Qingzhao, the master poet of the graceful Ci poetry, an unrestrained woman who loved party, drinking and gambling, a shining star which took a special place in the galaxy of ancient Chinese literature.
