This is a beautiful modern artistic rendition of one of China’s most famous poets: Li Qingzhao (1084- ca. 1155). Her works reflect a sort of artistic craftsmanship that cannot be translated into English, and also a unique window into a woman’s mind from a time of strident patriarchy. Most of her writings have been lost, but the ones that remain reflect the political turmoil of her time.
Li Qingzhao lived during the Song Dynasty (960-1279), when the aristocracy grew increasingly interested in promoting Confucian ideas about women as being powerless, obedient, humble — emphasizing that their main duties should be to support their husbands by making them look good with many sons, great beauty, and unquestioned devotion. Li Qingzhao herself came from an aristocratic family and was married off at age 18 to another noble. However, she ended up genuinely falling in love with her husband, due to their shared love of art and culture. Her early poems reflect this happy part of her life.
Later, war broke out and everything changed — Li Qingzhao and her spouse had to flee as refugees, leaving behind their beloved library collection of books. Her husband died while she was in her 40s, and the tone of her poems took on a different and sadder tenor. She didn’t just write about her personal life, but also about the political situation of her day. She died around age 70.
One of the most celebrated aspect of Li Qingzhao’s poetry is the way she took the “ci” genre in new directions. “Ci” poems put lyrics to pre-existing tunes and had been considered playful and sometimes bawdy. However, her renditions were more artistic. You can find many English translations of Li Qingzhao’s work in English online, but they don’t translate well. Here are two short lines from “Last night the rain was sparse” which I liked because of the way they evoke such a specific moment:
“Last night, the rain was sparse and the wind was strong; deep sleep did not absorb the remaining wine . . . “
Source: Global Medieval Sourcebook: a digital repository of Medieval texts. (sourcebook.stanford.edu), “To the tune ‘As if in a dream’ — ‘Last night the rain was sparse’. Li Qingzhao, poet, ‘the most talented woman in history’ April 6, 2020, Alex Colville, The China Project.
