⬅️宋词 Ci Poems
Since late Tang Dynasty, another form of Chinese poetry started to gain popularity. It is called Ci (词). Ci is a unique form of lyric poetry which has shared rhythmic, fixed tonal pattern and variable line length to each title. A title is named a Cipai (词牌). There are over 1600 titles in total. The title does not refer to the content of a Ci, but regulates the set of its pattern, including the number of characters and lines, the number of characters in each line, and the arrangement of tones. For this reason sometimes the poet added a subtitle to describe the content of his Ci. Li Yu (李煜 937-978 AD) was the first and one of the most well-known Ci poet in Chinese history. He was called The Eternal Emperor of Ci Poetry (千古词帝).
Li Yu himself was an actual emperor indeed, not a good one though. He was the last ruler of South Tang (南唐). After the collapse of Tang Dynasty, China entered a period of division, called Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms (五代十国, 907-979 AD), with five states succeeding each other in the north and more than dozen states co-existing in the south. Li Yu was the last emperor of Southern Tang, one of the kingdoms in the south. Since his young age, Li Yu showed great interest in art and literary. His indulgence in the artistic pursuit continued after he succeeded the throne from his father. He would skip his imperial responsibilities just to watch his wife's performance, who was also very well-educated and talented in arts. Buddhism was another Li Yu's obsession. It was said he determined everything on the basis of Buddhism. On the day that army of Song Dynasty (宋，960-1279 AD) reached the wall of his capital city, Li Yu was still listening to monks' chanting sutra in a temple. In December 975, Southern Tang was conquered by Song. Li Yu was captured and sent to Bianjing (汴京), the capital of Song Dynasty where he spent the last two years of his life as a captive.
Wang Guowei (王国维,1877-1927 AD), a Chinese scholar and historian, once said:"Through one hundred misfortunes Heaven made a poet (天以百凶成就一词人)." There was no better expression to summarize Li Yu's life. Before his captivity, Li Yu focused the composing of his Ci either on the luxurious life inside his royal palace, or on the affection between man and woman. His wordings were beautiful, his tone was soft and the taste of his poetry during this period was sweet. But what made Li Yu a great poet was the poems he composed after he was taken prisoner. The scope of his poetry was broadened and the lament in his poetry was deepened. With his blood and tears, he wrote down his regret for the subjugation of his country and his desolate life as a captive. In 978 AD on his birthday, after watching a Southern Tang dancing performed by palace maids, he composed this one of his most famous Ci poem To The Tune Of Lady Yu. Emperor Taizong of Song (宋太宗) was so furious at the poem that he immediately ordered to have Li Yu positioned to death in an extremely painful manner. He was 42. "At the time of being rich and noble, he composed with the language of richness and nobleness. At the time of being sorrowful and miserable, he composed with the language of sorrow and misery. Every single one of his words was truthful to his heart." That was what people said of Li Yu.
