Li Shangyin was born in Zhengzhou (Cheng-chou)
in southeastern China. He grew up in various cities
throughout the region because his father was a government
official who was often transferred to different
towns.After his father’s death in 821, Li Shangyin
and his mother moved back to Zhengzhou, where he
was taught the Confucian classics by a scholarly
uncle. Consequently he became a literary prodigy.
Despite Li Shangyin’s obvious talents, in 833 he
failed the government-administered literary examination,
a test that identified qualified candidates
for government positions. In 835, he failed the test
once more, but finally passed it two years later.
After his successful examination, Li obtained a position
on the staff of a military leader, Wang
Maoyuan. Soon after, he married one of Wang’s
daughters, and though he held a succession of
minor government posts, he never rose to a high
rank. One reason for this might have been his reputation
for writing political poems, some of which
may have ruffled the feathers of his superiors.
Li Shangyin’s poetry also gained him the notice
of the famous poet BAI JUYI. Legend has it that Bai
Juyi wished to return as Li Shangyin’s son after his
death. Upon Bai Juyi’s death in 846, Li wrote the
older poet’s epitaph, an indication of the high regard
he had for his colleague.
Li Shangyin died relatively young, at age 45. In
the years before his death, he began to study Buddhism
and made many donations to temples in his
area.His devoutness in his later years runs counter
to his reputation, gained through his romantic poetry,
as a man who had many secret love affairs. It
is not known for certain, however, whether this
reputation was justified. Li Shangyin’s poetry ran
the gamut from political commentary, as in his
long poem “Written While Traveling through the
Western Suburbs,” to romance, exemplified in his
series of poems dedicated to a young girl he calls
“Willow Branch,” who fell in love with him during
one of his official assignments.Whether writing
of political intrigues or love affairs, Li Shangyin remains
one of the great poets of the Tang dynasty.
English Versions of Works by Li Shangyin
Five T’ang Poets: Field Translation Series. Translated
by David Young. Oberlin, Ohio: Oberlin College
Press, 1990.
The Poetry of Li Shang-Yin, Ninth-Century Baroque
Chinese Poet. Translated by James J. Y. Liu.
Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1969.