Poetry
Poems
李義山詩集
Li Shangyin · 850
Synopsis
The collection brings together the poems of Li Shangyin, of which around six hundred have come down to us. Love is one of its great themes, and many pieces have remained untitled. The language is dense, laden with allusions and rare images; a single poem can be read as a political satire, a love story or a confidence. The most famous, the Cithare de brocart, runs to fifty-six characters and has received at least five interpretations, including the mourning of a wife and the disappointments of a career.
Context
The untitled pieces are the most discussed; the debate over their political, biographical or philosophical meaning has lasted for centuries. James J. Y. Liu, who translated a hundred of them in 1969, held him to be one of the most ambiguous poets, if not the most ambiguous. His work is seen as preparing the transition to the sung poems of the Song. In the anthology of the Three Hundred Tang Poems, only Du Fu, Li Bai and Wang Wei are better represented; Daily Zhongwen counts twenty-four of his pieces there.
Who it is for
Short, dense poems, among the most difficult in classical poetry; translated into French in extracts only.
Prizes and reception
Britannica notes that the West only began to study him seriously after 1950, whereas China has been commenting on him since the Song.
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