Li Qingzhao

Li Qingzhao (1084-1155), an outstanding female poet, with literary name of Yi`an Jushi, was born in Mingshui Zhangqiu (today`s Jinan). A master of ci style, a form of lyrical poetry that was set to music, and also ci theory, she enjoyed a very high prestige in Chinese literature. In the time of national crisis, her poetry was written with great emotional and patriotic intensity. Li adopted the euphemistic approach characterized by intense themes, graceful style and sincerity. She showed a maturity and eloquence in her style. Wang Yuyang, a scholar in Qing Dynasty, called her a master of ci and said her ci could not be imitated. Her critique Ci Lun, (Discourse on Ci Style), had expressed many unique and new ideas. In 1101, Li Qingzhao married Zhao Mingcheng, 21-year-old student in the Imperial Academy. Li and Zhao`s marriage was extremely happy. The couple shared a love of art and antiquities. In 1107, they moved to Qingzhou and lived in ``Guilai House`` (Returning House) for 14 years. (The house was fired in 1127`s war. The old site is in the area of Shunhelou, Qingzhou.) During this period, they spent much of their money collecting seals, bronze vessels, rubbings of inscriptions, sculpture, manuscripts, scrolls, poetry, and paintings, and at times they lived a relatively frugal and sparse life. One day, a person charged 200,000 yuan for Xu Xi`s Peony. They could not afford that much, but in order to appreciate it, they put up the seller for the night. On the second day, the seller left and the couple had sighed for several days. Despite frugality, they led a happy life. After supper, they would sit face to face, challenged each other and then entertained themselves with tea. One listed an entry of antique, the other had to answer where the entry came from, including which book, which chapter, which page and which line. Whoever got it right would drink tea. Because of Zhao Mingcheng`s expertise in antiquity, he often won and drank more tea. Both of them loved antiquity, they would often spend all night examining their collection. In order to take care of her husband, she had to rule that they had to go to bed after one candle died out. In 1121, Zhao Mingcheng went to Laizhou as an imperial court official. Li Qingzhao missed her husband a lot and became thinner. She wrote one ci under the tune of ``Drunk under Flower Shadows`` and sent it to her husband. She described her sorrow at being parted from her lover, comparing her loneliness to flower petals falling at the end of spring. She says she ``looks thinner than the yellow flower.`` When Zhao received the letter, he refused food and drink for three day. He wrote 50 ci in the same tune with his wife`s. But all of them could not compete with his wife`s. In 1127, Zhao died of overworking in Jiankang. The death of Zhao was a cruel blow to Li. But she lived on. She was determined to finish the work of compiling their vast collection that Zhao had begun. She collated his manuscripts into an antiquarian manual entitled Jin Shi Lu, (Record of Metal and Stone) and finally completed it in 1134.

Besides her writing, she was also good at calligraphy, painting and music. In Ming Dynasty, some one collected her painting ``Pipa Xing`` and some one ever bought her painting of bamboo. But none of them had survived to the present.