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Li Shangyin

Late Tang poet of allusive verse such as The Patterned Zither and the Untitled poems, who spent his career in provincial staffs after offending the Linghu family

Also known as Zi Yishan · Haoyu Xisheng · Fan Nansheng

Li Shangyin, courtesy name Yishan, styled Yuxisheng, came from Henei in Huaizhou. Before he was twenty he showed his writing to Linghu Chu, military governor at Heyang, who taught him the parallel prose of official memorials. He passed the jinshi examination in 837 and held minor posts in the capital region. Joining the staff of Wang Maoyuan and marrying his daughter, he was seen by Linghu Chu's son Linghu Tao as ungrateful, and his career stalled for years. He served on the staffs of Zheng Ya at Guizhou, Lu Hongzhi at Xuzhou and Liu Zhongying in Dongchuan, and after losing his post late in the Dazhong era returned to Zhengzhou, where he soon died. His poems, among them The Patterned Zither and the Untitled pieces, are dense with allusion; he was paired with Wen Tingyun and, as the lesser Li, with Du Mu. The early Song courtiers Yang Yi and Liu Yun imitated his style in the Xikun Anthology.

Life and times

  1. 813 CEBornTang
  2. 858 CEDied

Works

  1. Literature · Poetry17
    1. The Brocade ZitherTangLi Shangyin's enigmatic regulated verse weaving four allusions into a meditation on memory
    2. Written on a Rainy Night, Sent NorthTangLi Shangyin's quatrain sent north from Ba-Shu, imagining a reunion recalling this rainy night
    3. Untitled: Hard It Is to MeetTangLi Shangyin's untitled regulated verse of a love that ends only with death, silkworm and candle
    4. Climbing the Leyou PlainTangLi Shangyin drives up to the Leyou Plain at evening and finds beauty and loss in one sunset
    5. Frost and MoonTangLi Shangyin pictures a cold autumn night as a contest of beauty between frost and moon
    6. +12 more
      1. Chang'eTangLi Shangyin on the moon goddess's endless nights, a poem of solitude read in many ways
      2. The Jasper PoolTangLi Shangyin on the Queen Mother of the West and King Mu, mocking the quest for immortality
      3. To Director LinghuTangLi Shangyin's reply to a letter from Linghu Tao, casting himself as the ailing Sima Xiangru
      4. Because There IsTangLi Shangyin's quatrain named for its first two words: a noble wife resents the dawn court
      5. Master JiaTangLi Shangyin's history poem on Emperor Wen's midnight talk with Jia Yi, a rebuke to rulers
      6. Cool ThoughtsTangLi Shangyin waits through the cool season for word from afar, half fearing a newer friend
      7. North QingluoTangLi Shangyin climbs at dusk to visit a lone monk and feels love and hate fade in the stillness
      8. The CicadaTangLi Shangyin sees himself in the cicada: perched high, hungry, crying out to an indifferent tree
      9. Wind and RainTangLi Shangyin, a leaf in the storm, laments his unused talent while others feast to music
      10. Falling BlossomsTangLi Shangyin's regulated verse on fallen blossoms, a lament for spring and for hopes in vain
      11. Choubi Post StationTangLi Shangyin passes Choubi station and mourns Zhuge Liang's great plans left unfulfilled
      12. Spring RainTangLi Shangyin in spring rain revisits an old haunt, but the one he loves is gone
  2. Literature · Sayings9
    1. The Silkworm Spins Until It DiesTangIdiom from Li Shangyin's Untitled: lifelong selfless devotion, often said of teachers
    2. Night Rain in the Ba MountainsTangIdiom from Li Shangyin's poem sent north: longing on a rainy night far from home
    3. Zhuang Zhou's Dream of the ButterflyTangIdiom in Li Shangyin's The Brocade Zither: life as a dream where self and world blur
    4. Fine Jade Grows at LantianTangIdiom from the Records of the Three Kingdoms: Sun Quan's praise of the boy Zhuge Ke
    5. Until the Candle Burns to AshTangLine from Li Shangyin's untitled poem: love and devotion that burn until the end
    6. +4 more
      1. Trimming the Candle Together by the West WindowTangIdiom from Li Shangyin's Night Rain, Sent North: talking late by candlelight when we meet again
      2. The Bluebird Diligently Carries WordTangIdiom from Li Shangyin's Untitled poem: the bluebird as a faithful messenger of love
      3. Already Lost in Wistful ConfusionTangFamous line from Li Shangyin's The Ornate Zither: wistful even as it happened
      4. Hard It Is to Meet, and Harder Still to PartTangFamous line from Li Shangyin's Untitled poem: meeting is hard, and parting harder