Li Shangyin

Lore & Background

Li is well known for his poetry, and in the many published editions of the anthology Three Hundred Tang Poems, the number of his poems ranks below only Du Fu, Li Bai, and Wang Wei. His poetry is distinguished by extensive use of love as a major theme and the unconventional decision to leave many collected verses untitled.

Reader's Guide

Li Shangyin's significance lies in his role as a typical Late Tang poet whose works were sensuous, dense, and allusive, making 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. The Chinese critical tradition tends to depict Li as the Tang dynasty's last great poet. His poetry played an important transitional role in the development of the ci form, which became especially noted in the Song dynasty. James J. Y.

Did You Know?

• He never obtained a high-ranking position, possibly due to factional disputes or his association with Liu Fen, an opponent of the eunuchs.
• His poem 'The Brocade Zither' has at least five major interpretations, including frustration about his career and commemoration of his deceased wife.
• His work 'Derangements of My Contemporaries' is considered by some scholars a precedent for The Pillow Book by Sei Shōnagon.