Women in China: Li Qing-zhao (1084-c.1151)

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

I think Li Qing-zhao is one of the finest poets I've read. The true frustration is not being able to completely enjoy her poetry in the original sung form. She wrote in the tz'u (ci) form poetry written for singing. This poetry reached its height during the Sung Dynasty (960-1279).

SOURCES:
1) "Li Ch'ing Chao", Hu Pin-ching (1966). Hu is a professor of French literature in Taiwan [in 1966]. Her book contains a nice, short chronology of her life; a discussion of the historical background of the Sung Dynasty; a very interesting explanation of tz'u (ci) poetry; translations and descriptions of her poems; and an excellent index. [no Chinese]. [See "Remorse" to the tune "Painted lips" p. 19].

2) "Li Ch'ing-chao Complete Poems", Kenneth Rexroth and Ling Chung (1979). Rexroth is a well known translator of Japanese and Chinese poetry, and Ling Chung is a poet and film producer [1979]. This volume also contains excellent descriptions and notes on all of her surviving poems. [See the poem to the tune "Rouged Lips" pp.61-2]. [no Chinese].

3) "Li Qing-zhao li yi", (Hong Kong 2004). This is a complete collection of her poems in Chinese with many illustrations and notes.

4) Also see http://www.chinapage.com/painting/zhousicong.html... for a nice color painting of Li by a modern artist Zhou Si-cong (1939-1966). Also see http://www.chinapage.com/poet-e/liqingzhao/ci01.html [et seq.]for another translation of her poems by Lucy Chow Ho. [see "Rouge Lips" http://www.chinapage.com/poet-e/liqingzhao/ci03.html . The poems follow .../ci04.html etc......].

5) "Anthology of Chinese Literature", edited and translated by Stephen Owen (1996). Owen's massive and, I think, definitive general collection of Chinese literature, contains "Li Qing-zhao's Epilogue to 'Records on Metal and Stone' " (pp.591-596). The "epilogue" is both a tribute to her late husband and a jab at his collecting obesession.
They would play a guessing game about where this or that passage could be found....

"...Whenever I got it right, I would raise the teacup, laughing so hard that the tea would spill in my lap, ...I would have been glad to grow old in such a world. Thus, even though we were living in anxiety, hardship, and poverty, our wills were not broken".

Later her husband died and she became a leaf in the wind. PLEASE read the whole "Epilogue'!!!

[Anonymous]

Here are other strong women seniors in CHINA wanting some answers:

FOUND IN: the International Herald Tribune
"Two women sentenced to 're-education' in China"

By Andrew Jacobs
Published: August 21, 2008

The point is clear, people have voiced their opression for so long...even at 70 years old.
How can older generations remain silent? Let's learn from our ancestors...shall we.

[Author]

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