⬅️宋词 Ci Poems
Liu Yong (柳永 984-1053 AD) was one of the most well-known Ci poet of Song dynasty. His works were once so popular that there was a saying to describe their popularity "Where is well water, there are people singing Liu Yong's Ci poems." The irony was what made his poems so popular was also the reason that made his career and his life was so rough and frustrated.
Liu Yong was born into a scholar-literati family in 984 AD. At age of 18, he traveled from his hometown in Fujian to the capital city of Bianjing (汴京) to take the imperial Jinshi examination. On his way to the capital, he was so fascinated by the beautiful landscape and prosperity of the cities in southern China that he spent the next six years in Hangzhou (杭州), Suzhou (苏州) and Yangzhou (扬州). During this period, he abandoned himself to the drinking houses and courtesan pavilions and composed many Ci poems for the sing-song girls. Most of these poems were so called erotic poetry which focused on the affections between men and women. Some of them described the sexual relationship and the beauty of female's body. The expression of the poetry was straightforward and the wording of them was colloquial. His literature talent won him reputation rapidly among sing girls. But with the fame there was consequences. His poetry was regarded by the scholar-literati as vulgar and frivolous. That directly led to his first failure on the imperial Jinshi examination in 1009 AD. His name was crossed out by the Emperor Zhenzong (宋真宗).
To express the discontent of his failure, Liu Yong composed one of his famous Ci poems, To The Tune of He Chong Tian (Crane Soaring to Sky). "A gifted scholar and Ci poet, I am a minister without the official gown." He wrote, "To the vain fame, I prefer a sip of fine wine and a whispering song." Obviously the emperor took great offense at this Ci. All of Liu Yong's next three attempts for the Jinshi examination failed. After his fourth failure in 1024 AD, Liu Yong finally gave up and left the capital in anger, disappointment and frustration. He spent the next ten years wandering across China, composing Ci for a living. Although his pursuit of a career as a scholar-official hit the wall, his reputation as a poet was thriving.
The turnaround happened in 1034 AD when the Emperor Renzong (宋仁宗) took over the reins of ruling from the empress mother at age of 22. This year Emperor Renzong held a "bestowing imperial examination (恩科)" for the scholars who failed the test in previous years. When Liu Yong heard the news, he rushed to the capital and took the test. This time, he passed, together with his elder brother. Liu Yong started his political career from bottom. However the advance of his career was slow, if not stalled at all. He was still haunted by the "vulgar and frivolous" writing style of those Ci poems he composed for the sing-song girls and geishas. He was repelled by the scholar-literati circle and his promotion recommendation was rejected by the emperor. In 1053 AD, he died.
But the so called erotic poem was not the only topic of Liu Yong's Ci poetry. He also composed many Ci poetry about the life of city and everyday people who lived it. Another frequent theme of his poetry was the sentiment of traveling from post to post as a low level official, the conflict, frustration, and depression in his heart. When it turned to this part of his poetry, the language he used was graceful and elegant, and the artistic conception was profound and bleak. The poetry was sincere and touching. That was the reason why he was regarded highly by his contemporaries and by the poets of later generation. "Everyone said Liu Yong's Ci poetry is profane," as Su Dongpo (苏东坡，one of the greatest poets of Song dynasty and in the history of China) put it, but some of Liu's poetry "was comparable with the finest poems of Tang dynasty."
