Li E
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Li E (; 1692–1752),
courtesy name A courtesy name ( zh, s=字, p=zì, l=character), also known as a style name, is an additional name bestowed upon individuals at adulthood, complementing their given name. This tradition is prevalent in the East Asian cultural sphere, particula ...
Taihong (太鴻), ''
hao Hao or HAO may refer to: People * Hao (surname) (Chinese: ) * Hao (given name) * Hao (video gamer), Chinese professional ''Dota 2'' player * Heather O'Reilly, Professional soccer player Places * Hao (city), or Haojing (), capital of the Wes ...
'' Fanxie (樊榭), was a
Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...
Chinese poet, essayist, and scholar. Known for his erudition and his poems of the "pure and spare" style, Li is recognized as one of the leaders of the Zhejiang School of poetry.


Life

Born in a poor family in Qiantang (modern
Hangzhou Hangzhou, , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ; formerly romanized as Hangchow is a sub-provincial city in East China and the capital of Zhejiang province. With a population of 13 million, the municipality comprises ten districts, two counti ...
,
Zhejiang ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = ( Hangzhounese) ( Ningbonese) (Wenzhounese) , image_skyline = 玉甑峰全貌 - panoramio.jpg , image_caption = View of the Yandang Mountains , image_map = Zhejiang i ...
), Li and his siblings were orphaned in early childhood. His elder brother sold tobacco while he studied and worked as a tutor. From 17141719, he taught the wealthy brothers Wang Hang (, ''Wāng Hàng'', 17041784) and Wang Pu (). A poem by Wang Hang was later responsible for the naming of
Yangzhou Yangzhou is a prefecture-level city in central Jiangsu Province, East China. Sitting on the north bank of the Yangtze, it borders the provincial capital Nanjing to the southwest, Huai'an to the north, Yancheng to the northeast, Taizhou, Jiangsu, ...
's
Slender West Lake Slender West Lake, also known by its Chinese name Shouxihu and by other names, is a scenic lake in Hanjiang District in central Yangzhou, China. The lake developed from the city moats of Tang-era Yangzhou. During the Qing dynasty, its ba ...
. In 1720 Li passed the
imperial examination The imperial examination was a civil service examination system in History of China#Imperial China, Imperial China administered for the purpose of selecting candidates for the Civil service#China, state bureaucracy. The concept of choosing bureau ...
for the ''juren'' degree. He was unable to advance his career in government, partly due to his temperament. Instead, he made a name for himself as the most erudite person with regard to
Song dynasty The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...
poetry. He is widely considered a leader of the Zhejiang School of poetry (also known as Western Zhejiang School of Lyrics), which was started by Zha Shenxing and Zhu Yizun. From 17311734, he assisted with the compilation of the ''West Lake Records'' (, ''Xīhú Zhì''). Li E valued his interest in scholarship more than his worldly career. When he was passing through
Tianjin Tianjin is a direct-administered municipality in North China, northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the National Central City, nine national central cities, with a total population of 13,866,009 inhabitants at the time of the ...
on the way to capital
Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
for a government appointment, he was invited to stay with the wealthy scholar Zha Weiren. When he found out that Zha had been working on annotating 13th-century scholar Zhou Mi's ''Jue Miao Hao Ci'' (Best of the Best Lyrics), Li abandoned his appointment and decided to join forces with Zha. In 1749, they completed their work ''Jue Miao Hao Ci Jian'' (An Annotated Best of the Best Lyrics), which was printed the following year. Li E died two years later in 1752.


Works

Besides ''Jue Miao Hao Ci Jian'', Li's major works include ''Fanxie Shanfang Ji'' 樊榭山房集 (The Collection of Fanxie Mountain Studio, 20 volumes), and the monumental annotated
anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...
'' Song Shi Jishi'' (''Recorded Occasions in Song Poetry''), which comprises 100 volumes, with a preface written in 1746. ''Song Shi Jishi'' was modelled after ''Tang Shi Jishi'' (唐詩紀事), a valuable anthology of
Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...
poems compiled by
Ji Yougong Ji may refer to: Names and titles * Ji (surname), the pinyin romanization of several distinct Chinese surnames * Ji (Korean name), a Korean surname and element in given names (including lists of people with the name) * -ji, an honorific used a ...
(計有功) in the twelfth century.


Style

Like Zhu Yizun, Li E was an admirer of the ''qingkong'' (pure and spare) style of Song dynasty poets
Jiang Kui Jiāng Kuí () (c. 1155 Poyang – c. 1221 Hangzhou), courtesy name Yaozhang (), Art name Baishi Daoren (). Also known as "Jiang Baishi" () was a famous Chinese poet, composer, poetry theorist and calligrapher of the Song dynasty, particularly ...
and Zhang Yan. One of Li's famous lines, "雨洗秋濃人淡", comprises six
Chinese characters Chinese characters are logographs used Written Chinese, to write the Chinese languages and others from regions historically influenced by Chinese culture. Of the four independently invented writing systems accepted by scholars, they represe ...
that literally read: "rain/wash/autumn/lush/people/pale". It is translated by Shirleen S. Wong as "Autumn ablaze with colors after rain, but paler she looks". This "pure and spare" style attempts to create an impression of etherealness and delicateness, in contrast to the boastful expressions in the works of poets such as
Su Shi Su Shi ( zh, t=, s=苏轼, p=Sū Shì; 8 January 1037 – 24 August 1101), courtesy name Zizhan (), art name Dongpo (), was a Chinese poet, essayist, calligrapher, painter, scholar-official, literatus, artist, pharmacologist, and gastronome wh ...
and
Xin Qiji Xin Qiji (28 May 1140 – 3 Oct 1207) was a Chinese poet, calligrapher, and military general during the Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279). Life During Xin's lifetime, northern China was occupied during the Jin–Song Wars by the Jurchen peopl ...
. A major proportion of Li E's poetic creations are landscape poems, often about his beloved hometown of Hangzhou. It is said that he had written at least one poem about every well known scenic spot in the city. For example, one of his poems about the
Lingyin Temple Lingyin Temple () is a prominent Chan Buddhist temple near Hangzhou that is renowned for its many pagodas and grottos. Its name is commonly and literally translated into English as Temple of the Soul's Retreat. The monastery is the largest ...
reads: "Atop crowded peaks the moon shines; Amid jumbled leaves a stream flows. One lamp sets all motion to rest. The lone sound of a chime empties the Four Skies." Li's poetry is often imbued with an air of quiet beauty, but he is also known to have a penchant to use obscure allusions or words in his poems.


References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Li, E 1692 births 1752 deaths Qing dynasty poets 18th-century Chinese poets Writers from Hangzhou Qing dynasty essayists Chinese poetry anthologists Poets from Zhejiang