⬅️ 唐诗 Tang Poems
Li Shangyin (李商隐, 813-858 AD) was the leading poet of late Tang. He was also considered to be one of the finest poets in the history of China. It is believed his poetry has more readership than that of the most famous Tang poets such as Li Bai (李白) and Du Fu (杜甫). Like other scholar-officials in history, Li Shangyin took and passed the Jinshi (进士) imperial examination. But his political career was quite rough, mainly because of his involuntary involvement in the Niu-Li factional strife (牛李党争) at imperial court. He was regarded as a disciple to the leader of one faction but later married to the daughter of a politician in another faction. He was abandoned by both sides and was never appointed to any high level positions ever.
Despite his frustrated political career, Li Shangyin took a special place in the history of Chinese poetry. About 600 his poems survived and 24 of them were selected in the anthology Three Hundred Tang Poems. Li Shangyin's poetry is known for being sensuous in its aesthetics, intricate in its language and obscure in its meaning. His poems were notoriously difficult to understand and interpret. And extensive use of allusions in his poems did not make this task any easier. It was not unusual that there were several readings for one Li Shangyin's particular poems. The interpretation can range from an innuendo of political affairs, a reminiscence of a love affair, to the poet's sentiment toward his own life. Critics disputed for centuries for what the poet tried to say. But few would argue that Li Shangyin's poetry had high artistic achievement. Just as Liang Qichao (梁启超，1873-1929 AD, a Chinese intellectual and social activist) said:"If you ask me to explain each line of his poems, I might have difficulty with their literal meanings. But I feel the beauty of his poetry. I get the sense of fresh pleasure by reading them."
