Boucquey Thierry (General Editor). Encyclopedia Of World Writers. 3 volumes

Подождите немного. Документ загружается.

Koran (Qur’an) (ca. 610–632) sacred

scripture of Islam

Muslims believe that the Koran (or Qur’an, Arabic

for “recitation”) is the word of God as revealed to

MUHAMMAD in a process that began in the year 610,

during the month of Ramadan, when the angel

Gabriel called out to him and commanded him to

“recite in the name of the Lord.” For more than 20

years, until his death in 622, Muhammad contin-

ued to receive further revelations when in a trance-

like state, and he would then convey the words to

his followers. Each revelation eventually became

part of a surah, or chapter, in the Koran.

After the prophet’s death, different versions and

arrangements of the surahs began to spread across

the expanding Muslim realm. To counteract this

trend, Muhammad’s secretary, Zayd Ibn Thabit, col-

lected all the written fragments he could find and

recorded the recollections of those “reciters” who

had memorized parts of Muhammad’s visions.

Together with other scholars, Zayd produced an

authoritative text sometime during the reign of the

Caliph ‘Uthman (ruled 644–56). This text is the

basis of all subsequent editions of the Koran and

is recognized by all Muslims, regardless of doctri-

nal differences.

Muslims often refer to the Koran as the “Arabic

Koran (Recitation).” It is considered impossible to

translate and impious even to try. Thus, non-Arab

Muslims use the Arabic original for prayer, recita-

tion, and study. When Muslims render the text into

other languages, it is considered a paraphrase or

interpretation.

The written Koran has always been intended for

reading aloud, following carefully preserved tradi-

tions of pronunciation and emphasis. In this way,

difficult Arabic passages can be made accessible.

Translators of the Koran will generally add addi-

tional wording to preserve the meaning.

Printed editions of the Koran appeared in Eu-

rope from the Renaissance on, first in Arabic and

then in European languages. Eventually, critical

editions were published in Europe in which the

text was often rearranged and “corrected” in light

of modern linguistic and historical research. Schol-

arly but strictly orthodox Arabic versions also ap-

peared in the 20th century.

Critical Analysis

Muslims consider the classical Arabic of the Koran

to be the very standard of purity, grammar, and

diction. Nearly all the vocabulary is of Arabic ori-

gin, although some words appear to scholars to be

derived from Greek, Aramaic, and Hebrew.

There are also several different styles of writing

in the Koran. Many of the short, earlier verses are

written in the clipped rhymed prose of the kahins,

or pagan priests. Other verses in the khatib style

have the flavor of sermons, while still others fol-

low the style of stories or dramatic poetry. Finally,

many of the legal rulings follow the format of

treaties or agreements.

Most of the verses appear to be spoken by God.

Many of those spoken by Muhammad begin with

the command, “Say,” often when the prophet is

being instructed to answer questioners or doubters.

English-language prose versions of the Koran

run to about 400 pages. The content is divided into

114 chapters. Some chapters correspond to indi-

vidual revelations, while others are composites that

Muhammad himself assembled from shorter reve-

lations.

In the standard text, the chapters are presented

roughly in size order, rather than following a

chronology or thematic plan. The longer chapters

appear near the beginning, even though many of

them date from the last years of the prophet’s life.

For example, following a brief introductory chap-

ter invoking God’s guidance, Chapter 2 has 286

verses, while the final 10 chapters range from three

to seven verses each.

The verses themselves (ayat in Arabic) vary

greatly in length. Many of them, especially in the

shorter chapters, consist of one brief line, while the

longer verses run the length of a full paragraph.

The title of each chapter is taken from its text

but does not necessarily describe the chapter as a

whole. Beneath the title is an indication of whether

Koran 161

the surah was revealed at Mecca or Medina, followed

by the number of verses the chapter contains. All

but one chapter continues with the standard invo-

cation, “In the name of Allah (God), the Compas-

sionate, the Merciful.” Finally comes the text itself,

except for 29 chapters that precede the text with

some stand-alone letters whose mystical signifi-

cance is not known.

In terms of content, the main theme of the

Koran is that the world was created and is ruled by

a single all-powerful and merciful God, who de-

mands both faith and righteousness. Failure to

obey will result in punishment on the Day of Judg-

ment, when evildoers will be sent to hell and the

righteous to heaven.

The Koran says that God, to instruct human be-

ings in proper faith and conduct, sent a series of

prophets at different times and to different peo-

ples, all with the same essential teaching. The last

prophet was Muhammad, who was sent to the

Arabs in particular and to the entire world.

Among the Old Testament characters found in

the Koran are Adam and Eve; Cain and Abel; Abra-

ham, Isaac, Ishmael, and Jacob; Joseph and his

brothers; Moses and Aaron; David and Solomon;

Job; and Jonah. The most important of these fig-

ures are Moses, who freed the Israelites from Egypt

and led them to the Promised Land, and Abraham.

The Koran praises Abraham as the first man to

abandon idol-worship. It also credits him with

building the sacred Ka‘bah shrine in Mecca, which

Muhammad later designated as the holiest site in

Islam. Interestingly, the Koran considers Ishmael,

the ancestor of the Arabs, to be Abraham’s heir,

while the Hebrew

BIBLE attributes that role to Isaac,

the ancestor of the Jews.

The Koran also contains many references to

Jesus, who is revered as a prophet and miracle

worker, and Mary, but the Koran rejects the Chris-

tian concept of the Trinity and denies that Jesus

was crucified.

Many of the later chapters of the Koran (which

appear earlier in the standard text) deal with laws

and society. These chapters have been carefully

studied by generations of Muslim legal scholars

and form the basis of much Islamic law. Among

the topics treated are the laws of prayer, purifica-

tion, fasting, and pilgrimage; almsgiving and re-

spect for the poor; theft, violence, and revenge; the

distribution of spoils when fighting nonbelievers;

usury, debts, and inheritance; food and drink;

marriage; and the role of women.

Muslims consider the Koran to be the miracu-

lous, infallible, primary source for all basic legal

and religious doctrines. The Koran we know is said

to be a reflection of a divine, uncreated Koran that

has always existed. Because of the crucial impor-

tance of every word in the text, many schools of in-

terpretation (tafsir) have arisen over the centuries,

using a variety of approaches. The earliest inter-

preters actually created the science of Arabic lin-

guistics to fix the exact meaning of the text. They

pored over every word and studied other contem-

porary and earlier Arabic writings for clues to

meaning, even studying pagan poetry.

Scholars collected and commented on the vast

body of hadith, the traditions about the life and

sayings of Muhammad not found in the Koran,

hoping to clarify the meaning of disputed passages.

Each of the many theological camps within me-

dieval Islam produced its own interpretation, and

mystics from the Sufi tradition wrote allegories as

an aid to understanding the Koran.

In the 19th century, European scholars began to

approach the Koran with the linguistic and histor-

ical tools developed in the critical study of the He-

brew and Christian Bibles. They challenged the

authenticity of some of the surahs (chapters) and

published editions that rearranged the material in

a more chronological fashion.

In recent decades, some academic specialists

have gone further. They claim that parts of the

Koran were written perhaps a century later than

the date of Muhammad’s death. They also specu-

late that the Koran was largely composed in Syria

and Palestine. Other secular scholars dispute these

conclusions.

To date, very few Muslim scholars have shown

an interest in such speculation, for the historical

validity and divine origin of the entire book

162 Koran

remains a matter of faith for nearly all Muslims.

Researchers and critics have compared the Koran

to both the Hebrew Bible (noting differences be-

tween the two texts) and the Hebrew midrash, folk-

tales and sermons that were recorded in the

centuries after the Bible was completed (noting

similarities). Regardless of ongoing scholarship

and debate, one fact remains true: The Koran has

had a profound influence on all subsequent Ara-

bic literature and continues to influence contem-

porary religion, culture, and literature.

English Versions of the Koran

The Essential Koran: The Heart of Islam. Translated by

Thomas Cleary. Edison, N.J.: Castle, 1998.

The Glorious Koran. Translated by Muhammad Mar-

maduke Pickthall. Elmhurst, N.Y.: Tahrike Tarsile

Qu’ran, 2000.

The Koran. Translated by J. M. Rodwell. London: J. M.

Dent, 1994.

Works about the Koran

Ali, Abdullah Yusuf. The Meaning of the Holy Qur’an.

Beltsville, Md.: Amana Publications, 2004.

Barazangi, Nimat Hafez. Woman’s Identity and the

Qur’an. Gainesville: University Press of Florida,

2004.

Schwartz-Barcott, Timothy P. War, Terror & Peace in

the Qur’an and in Islam. Carlisle, Pa.: Army War

College Foundation Press, 2004.

Sells, Michael. Approaching the Koran: The Early Rev-

elations. Ashland, Ore.: White Cloud Press, 1999.

Kulthum, ‘Amr ibn

See ‘AMR IBN KULTHUM.

K’ung Fu-tzu (Kongfuzi)

See CONFUCIUS.

K’ung Fu-tzu 163

164



Labid (Diwan Labid ibn Rabi‘a al-‘Amiri)

(ca. 560–661) poet

Labid, the son of a celebrated philanthropist,

Rabi‘a, was born into a prominent family in the

‘Amir tribe in central Arabia. As a teenager, he

made his name at the court of the Lakhmid king, a

famous patron of poetry. He was said to have con-

verted to Islam while visiting Medina and after

hearing Muhammad recite verses from the KORAN.

His own poems display a deep religious feeling, but

there is speculation among scholars that he aban-

doned poetry after his conversion.

Labid’s brother Arbad was killed by lightning,

inspiring a very famous elegy, “The Deserted

Camp,” in which Labid philosophically laments the

futility of human existence and the difficulties of

old age: “Man is but a little flame. A little while

after it has risen into the air, it turns to ashes.”

One of Labid’s longer poems was later included

in the Mu‘allaq¯at (The Seven Odes), an anthology

of major pre-Islamic poems collected in the late

eighth century. While Labid’s odes follow the tra-

ditional format, he is noted for his vivid animal de-

scriptions and intense celebration of his tribe’s

noble qualities and traditional customs and laws.

He calls his tribesmen “generous, assisting liberal-

ity, gentlemanly, winning and plundering precious

prize, sprung of a stock whose fathers laid down a

code for them.” Labid was among the prominent

pagan poets who converted to Islam, and his

poems celebrate the Bedouin values that served as

models for later Muslim poets.

See also

HANGED POEMS; TARAFAH ‘AMR IBN AL-

‘ABD.

An English Version of a Work by Labid

Arberry, A. J. The Seven Odes: The First Chapter in

Arabic Literature. New York: Macmillan, 1957.

Works about Labid

Allen, Roger. An Introduction to Arabic Literature.

Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press,

2000.

Huart, Clement. A History of Arabic Literature. Beirut:

Khayats, 1966.

Laozi (Lao Tzu, Master Lao, Li Erh) (sixth

century B.C.) philosopher, essayist

Laozi was born in the Quren (Ch’ü-Jen) hamlet of Li

village in the state of Chu. There is no information

on his life and exploits, as there exists no compre-

hensive or even brief description of Laozi’s life other

than that found in Sima Qian’s (Ssu-ma Chien’s)

works and a few other isolated statements in histor-

ical documents of the Chu and Zhou (Chou) states.

There are,however, legends and traditions associated

with Laozi. According to one legend, he lived in the

state of Zhou for a long time as the keeper of the im-

perial archives. Disappointed with the decline, con-

stant chaos, and disorder of the state, he saddled a

water buffalo and set off for the West.

Sima Qian’s brief biography of this old sage con-

tains two interesting facts. The first pertains to a

meeting between Laozi and CONFUCIUS during

which Confucius asks Laozi to instruct him in the

performing of ancestral rites, then chastises and

rejects him for his ignorance. This episode of the

meeting between the two philosophers set the basis

for a philosophical rivalry that was perpetuated by

their followers. The second fact relates Laozi’s west-

ward journey through a mountain pass. According

to Sima Qian, the keeper of the pass pleaded with

the old man to write a book. Laozi did, and the

book became known as the Daodejing (Tao Te

Ching), Laozi’s definitive work. Based on the

Daodejing, most scholars consider Laozi to be the

founder of Daoism (Taoism), an important school

of thought in China and Chinese-influenced areas.

One of the basic concepts of Laozi’s teachings

is wuwei, which means “no excessive action.” This

has often been misinterpreted to mean passivity,

but Laozi emphasized nonaction as the most effec-

tive form of action because he believed that if peo-

ple are immersed in activity, they will become one

with the act, rather than becoming bored or rest-

less and looking for something else to do or forcing

acceptance. The emphasis of nonaction is on soft-

ness, endurance, and adaptability. As Laozi ex-

plains in the Daodejing:

Less and less do you need to force things,

until finally you arrive at non-action.

When nothing is done,

nothing is left undone.

In spite of Laozi’s teachings of wuwei, he was at

times dissatisfied with his wandering lifestyle:

I alone am inert, showing no sign of desires,

like an infant that has not yet smiled.

Wearied, indeed, I seem to be without a

home.

The multitude all possess more than

enough,

I alone seem to have lost all . . .

Common folks are indeed brilliant;

I alone seem to be in the dark.

The Daodejing’s importance has not dimin-

ished with time. It has had a deep influence on

Chinese culture, thought, and literature through-

out history, and it is one of the most widely read

books in both China and the world. In English

alone, there exist well over 30 translations. Not

only does the Daodejing embody and reflect the

variety of teachings and ideology that emerged

during the chaotic period of the Warring States

(402–221

B.C.), it also exemplifies the literary cre-

ativity of what is often perceived as the Golden Age

of Chinese philosophical thought.

Critical Analysis

The key idea in Laozi’s text is the Dao (referred to

as both “the way” and “the One”):

The way that can be spoken of

Is not the constant way.

...........

The valley in virtue of the One is full;

The myriad creatures in virtue of the One

are alive;

Lords and princes in virtue of the One be-

come leaders

in the empire.

It is the One that makes these what they

are.

Laozi saw the Dao as the essence, or foundation, for

the creation and preservation of the universe. The

idea of the Dao as the creator of the universe deviates

from the traditional Chinese concept of Heaven, or

Tien, as the entity that created the universe.

The central idea of the Daodejing is simple:

Human beings should model their lives on the

Dao. Whether people are rulers of nations or peas-

Laozi 165

ants working in fields, they must first and foremost

survive. According to Laozi, it is submissiveness

that enables people to live life most efficiently. The

de element of Laozi’s philosophy, which refers to

“virtue,” constitutes the manner in which a person

must live according to the Dao.

There are, however, some contradictions within

the Daodejing. For example, Laozi believed people

became enlightened when they learned to accept

life as it is. Yet he states at one point in the text,

“The reason I have great trouble is that I have a

body. When I no longer have a body, what trouble

have I?” This idea of transcending the limits of

corporeal form hints at the influence of Hindu-

Buddhist ideology and repudiates to some extent

the Daoist belief in nonaction.

In another part of the Daodejing, Laozi com-

ments on the balance of opposition:

Thus Something and Nothing produce each

other;

The difficult and the easy complement each

other;

The long and the short off-set each other;

The high and the low incline towards each

other;

Note and sound harmonize each other;

Before and after follow each other.

As explained in the passage, what is high is deter-

mined by its opposite, which is low. If either one is

removed, the other cannot exist in isolation.

Therefore, perhaps Laozi’s comment on tran-

scending life balances the realities of life with

dreams, for what person does not dream beyond

their real abilities?

This balance is most clearly revealed in the

Daodejing’s themes: the mundane and worldly

concerns of human life and mysticism. Laozi

clearly presents these themes in two distinct types

of passages. The first concerns cosmogony and the

origins of the universe. A common metaphor that

he uses in these passages is the womb. Just as liv-

ing beings emerge from a mother’s womb, so is the

universe born from the womb of what Laozi refers

to as the “mysterious female”:

The spirit of the valley never dies.

This is called the mysterious female.

The gateway of the mysterious female

Is called the root of heaven and earth. . . .

The second type of passage details the actions

and practices of the individual. Laozi uses the

image of a newly born baby to represent a being

that is submissive, weak, and helpless. The baby’s

frailty and innocence has the power to cause adults

to care for it. Ironically, this frailty symbolizes

strength, and this, Laozi suggests, is the ideal form

of human virtue.

Laozi’s descriptions of balance—nonaction as

effective action, having all and nothing, everything

in view of the One, submissiveness and force, ac-

ceptance versus transcendence, reality versus

dream, and the worldly versus the mystical—are

what have made the Daodejing a work for all ages

and all time. As Stephen Mitchell states in the in-

troduction to his translation of the text, “Like an

Iroquois woodsman, [Laozi] left no traces. All he

left us is his book: the classic manual on the art of

living, written in a style of gemlike lucidity, radiant

with humor and grace and large-heartedness and

deep wisdom: one of the wonders of the world.”

English Versions of the Daodejing

Lao Tzu Tao Te Ching. Translated with an introduc-

tion by D. C. Lau. Middlesex, U.K.: Penguin

Books, 1963.

Tao Te Ching. Translated with foreword and notes by

Stephen Mitchell. London: Macmillan, 1988.

Works about Laozi

Fung-Yu Lan. A History of Chinese Philosophy, Trans-

lated by Derk Bodde. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton

University Press, 1952, 171–172, 186–190.

Legge, James. The Texts of Taoism. Sacred Books of the

East, Vol. 40. New York: Dover, 1962, Chapters 3

and 4.

166 Laozi

Wing-Tsit Chan. A Sourcebook in Chinese Philosophy.

Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1969.

Latini, Brunetto (Brunetto Buonaccorso

Latini)

(ca. 1212–ca. 1294) translator,

nonfiction writer, poet

Brunetto Latini was a native of Florence, Italy, a

married man, and the father of three children. He

belonged to a powerful family and enjoyed a long

and distinguished public career that began in 1254.

In 1260, as Manfred of Sicily threatened to invade

Florence, Latini headed a diplomatic mission to

seek help from Alfonso X of Spain. Unfortunately,

Manfred’s army conquered Florence before Latini

returned home, and for the next seven years, he

lived in exile in France. After Manfred died in

1266, Latini returned to his native city, where he

soon resumed his political career.

In addition to his political activities, Latini

worked as a teacher, training his students by hav-

ing them copy translations of Pier delle VIGNE’s let-

ters. The most famous of his students was DANTE

ALIGHIERI

, who placed Latini (for reasons now un-

known) among the Sodomites in Canto 15 of his

Inferno.

Latini’s literary works include Italian transla-

tions of works by

CICERO; the Favolello, a letter con-

taining poetry about friendship; and Tesoretto

(Little Treasure), an allegory written in rhyming

couplets. Scholar Julia Bolton Holloway believes

Latini composed Tesoretto for Spain’s King Al-

fonso. Partially modeled on the

ROMANCE OF THE

ROSE, the poem includes scenes in which Latini

meets Nature, escapes the garden of Love with

OVID’s help, and talks to Ptolemy. It may be the first

Italian poem intended to educate more than to en-

tertain.

Latini’s most popular and enduring work, com-

posed while he was in exile (1260–66), was The

Book of the Treasure. Europeans of the MIDDLE AGES

placed little value on originality; they viewed au-

thors who referred to (or even copied) well-known

works as more knowledgeable and authoritative.

Thus, many medieval books are essentially compi-

lations of earlier writings. Latini’s Book of the Trea-

sure is just such a compilation. Holloway posits

that Latini intended it to teach Charles of Anjou

the proper way to govern. Other scholars specu-

late that the book targeted less-prominent readers

who wished to advance in the world. Latini most

likely intended the work to be used by learned men

as a reference source, for he begins with an appeal

to the wise:

This book is called the Treasure, for just as the

lord who wishes to amass things of great

value . . . puts into his treasure the most pre-

cious jewels he can gather together according

to his intention, in a similar manner the body

of this book is compiled out of wisdom, like

the one which is extracted from all branches of

philosophy in a brief summary.

Latini divides the Treasure into three parts. In

the first part, he discusses “the nature of all things

celestial and terrestrial.” It includes a history of the

world, much of which comes from the BIBLE; infor-

mation on astronomy and the elements; and a BES-

TIARY. In the second part, he discusses ethics,“what

things one should do and not do,” drawing heavily

on ARISTOTLE’s writings. Finally, in the third sec-

tion, he discusses rhetoric and city government—

or, as he says, “knowing and demonstrating why

one should do some things and not others.” In this

section he mentions Cicero’s ideas about rhetoric

and describes his personal experiences as a govern-

ment official.

Chapter headings of the Treasure include “The

paths of day and night, and heat, and cold”; “How

one should choose land for cultivation”; “The

cetacean called whale”; “The three manners of

good”; “The five parts of rhetoric”; and “Which

man should be elected to be lord and governor of

the city”.

Adding to the Treasure’s authority, Latini men-

tions and uses information from the works of Aris-

totle; Cicero;

PLATO; SOCRATES; SALLUST; LUCAN;

Latini, Brunetto 167

Palladius; SENECA; VIRGIL; JUVENAL; MARTIAL; HO-

RACE; AUGUSTINE, SAINT; JEROME, SAINT; BOETHIUS,

and AMBROSE, SAINT.

Translators Paul Barrette and Spurgeon Bald-

win note that the Treasure appeared “in the very

twilight of the life of such compendia,” meaning it

was one of the last of its breed. Nevertheless, it en-

joyed great popularity for being the first com-

pendium to be written in a vernacular language

(French) rather than in Latin and for its extrava-

gance of information based on the classics. In their

translation of the work, Barrette and Spurgeon

write, “Another key to [its] special popularity

seems to be associated with Brunetto’s skillfully or-

ganized plan ...but the most compelling reason

would have to be the venerable and unassailable

authority of Brunetto’s sources.”

English Versions of Works by

Brunetto Latini

Il Tesoretto (The Little Treasure). Translated and ed-

ited by Julia Bolton Holloway. New York: Garland,

1981.

The Book of the Treasure (Li Livres dou Tresor). Trans-

lated by Paul Barrette and Spurgeon Baldwin. New

York: Garland, 1993.

Works about Brunetto Latini

Holloway, Julia Bolton. Brunetto Latini: An Analytic

Bibliography. London: Grant and Cutler, 1986.

———. Twice-Told Tales: Brunetto Latino and Dante

Alighieri. New York: Peter Lang, 1993.

Li Bai (Li Bo, Li Po, Li Pai, Li T’ai Po)

(701–762) poet

Li Bai was born in Sujab, near Lake Balkash in

then-Chinese Central Asia. When he turned five

years old, he was brought back to Jiangyu (Chi-

angyu) County in Sichuan (Szechuan), where he

spent most of his boyhood and youth until he

turned 18. Li Bai wrote poetry for a living, and his

greatest supporters were members of the official

class. He traveled extensively during his lifetime,

and his easygoing personality enabled him to make

many friends wherever he went. For a brief time, Li

Bai enjoyed the favor of Emperor Xuanzhong

(Hsüan-tsung) and lived in the palace until his in-

volvement in political intrigue resulted in his ban-

ishment to the southwest. He later died of sickness

at Tangtu, in modern Anhui, when he was 61.

Of Li Bai’s 20,000 poems, only 1,600 survive.

The main themes of his poetry are beautiful

women and friendship. Some of his most moving

poems deal with the sadness that results from the

separation of friends. His poems also reflect the in-

fluence of the Chinese philosophy of Daoism

(Taoism). An example of a poem containing

Daoist imagery is “Dialogue in the Mountains,” in

which Li Bai describes his love of nature:

You ask why I dwell in the green hills

Smiling, I reply not, heart in peace.

This otherworldliness in his poetry has gained Li

Bai the title of “Poetic Immortal.” His disregard for

convention reveals itself in the free style and lack of

rules in the structure of his poetry.

Li Bai’s masterpieces are his Yueh Fu, songs,

which exemplify his romantic style and celebrate

his carefree spirit and his love for both wine and

lovely women. His fellow poet Du Fu (Tu Fu)

praised him, saying that his name would survive

for 10,000 years. Translator Rewi Alley agrees, say-

ing Li Bai “had a magic touch which took men

high above the mundane affairs of life.”

English Versions of Works by Li Bai

Li Pai: 200 Selected Poems. Translated by Rewi Alley.

Hong Kong: Joint Publishing Co., 1980.

Selected Poems of Li Bo. Translated by David Hinton.

New York: New Directions Publishing, 1996.

Works about Li Bai

Hu, Patricia Pin-ching. “Tang’s Golden Age.” In: Ran-

dom Talks on Classical Chinese Poetry. Hong Kong:

Joint Sun Publishing Co., 1990.

Varsano, Paul M. Tracking the Vanished Mortal: The

Poetry of Li Bo and its Criticism. Honolulu: Uni-

versity of Hawaii Press, 2003.

168 Li Bai

Li He (Li Ho) (791–817) poet

Li He was born in Henan (Honan) province in

central China, the son of a minor bureaucrat who

was descended from a cadet branch of the ruling

Tang dynasty. One story holds that he composed

his first verse at age seven in honor of a visit by the

famous poet

HAN YU. By the time of his father’s

death in 805, he had acquired a considerable liter-

ary reputation. Five years later, at age 21, he arrived

at the imperial capital at Chang’an to take the Con-

fucian examinations for a prestigious career in the

imperial civil service.

Li He promised to excel in the arduous literary

examinations, and some historians believe the

newcomer’s obvious brilliance excited the envy of

higher-placed yet mediocre poets. Incredibly, offi-

cials barred him from the exams because of an ar-

cane technicality known as a “character taboo”: a

Chinese written character in his father’s name had

the same sound as a character in the title of the

exam. Heartbroken and embittered, Li He accepted

a menial post in the Chinese bureaucracy, but he

resigned only two years later. In dire poverty, he

turned to his friend Han Yu for aid in finding an-

other position, but five years of disappointment

and struggle had taken their toll. He died in

Changgu (Ch’ang-ku) at age 26, supposedly sum-

moned from this world by a heavenly messenger

on a red dragon.

Literature remembers Li He as a “demon-

gifted” poet who composed his later verses in a

unique fashion. Each morning, he would ride

through the countryside on horseback, followed by

a servant boy carrying an embroidered black bag

on his shoulder. As inspiration struck, he would jot

down single lines at random on small strips of

paper, drop the strips into the bag, and assemble a

finished poem from the strips in the evening.

In contrast to the formal, concrete, and tradi-

tional styles favored by most poets of the later Tang

period, Li He’s dark and sensual work is charac-

terized by its beautiful imagery, unique word

choice, jarring metaphors, and, not infrequently,

pessimism tinged with compassion, the last un-

doubtedly stemming from the poet’s melancholy

life. In the words of translator David Hodges,“This

poet is very much an aesthete, drawn to curious ar-

tifacts, ancient legends, beautiful women (courte-

sans and dancing girls), picturesque ruins and

strange rites.”

“Haunting” is the adjective modern scholars

most often use to characterize Li He’s verses. One

of the most famous of these is “Song of the Jade-

hunter,” about an elderly jade-cutter in rural

China, one of the men who daily risked their lives

in conditions of great privation to procure the

prized stone:

Like the blood that wells from the cuckoo’s

maw

Are the old man’s tears

Another of Li He’s verses noteworthy for its im-

agery and metaphors is “Cold is the North,” de-

scribing a river in winter:

The Yellow Stream—all ice, so fish and

dragon died.

Tree barks, three foot—a script of frost-

cracked runes.

A common Chinese aphorism, comparing Li He

with two of his better-known and more conven-

tional contemporaries, holds that Du Fu’s (Tu Fü’s)

genius was that of a Confucian sage, Li Bai’s of a

Daoist (Taoist) immortal, and Li He’s of a ghost or

demon. To quote Hodges, Li He was “a poet so

striking and so different that readers are still not

sure what to think of him.”Although he is not as fa-

mous today as several other poets of the Later Tang

period, many scholars believe that the untimely and

tragic death of the “Chinese Keats” deprived his na-

tion of one of its greatest poets-to-be.

English Versions of Works by Li He

Five Tang Poets. Translated by David Young. Oberlin,

Ohio: Oberlin College Press, 1990.

Goddesses, Ghosts, and Demons: The Collected Poems

of Li He. Translated by J. G. Frodsham. San Fran-

cisco: North Point Press, 1983.

Li He 169

Poems of the Late Tang. Translated by A. C. Graham.

New York: Penguin, 1977.

Works about Li He

Fusheng Wu. The Poetics of Decadence: Chinese Po-

etry of the Southern Dynasties and Late Tang Peri-

ods. Albany: State University of New York Press,

1998, 77–116.

Kuo-ch-ing Tu. Li Ho. Boston: Twayne, 1979.

Li Po (Li Bo)

See LI BAI

Li Qingzhao (Li Ch’ing-chao) (1083–

ca. 1141) poet, nonfiction writer

Li Qingzhao, who is considered China’s greatest fe-

male poet, was born in Shandong (Shantung)

Province to Li Gefei (Li Ko-fei), a famous prose

writer; her mother was also a poet. Being born into

such a family allowed Li Qingzhao to cultivate her

natural talents as a writer at a time when women

were not often permitted to be educated.

At the age of 18, Li Qingzhao married Zhao

Mingzheng (Chao Ming-cheng), a student at the

Imperial Academy who later served in the impe-

rial administration. During this time, Li Qingzhao

was able to write poetry, acquire a vast collection of

books, and, with her husband, collect antiques

such as bronze vases, goblets, pots, and stone in-

scriptions. She also wrote a book on antiquities

with her husband called Critical-Analytical Studies

of Metal and Stone Inscriptions.

Li Qingzhao and her husband loved each other

very much, and their poems to each other, vivid

and sensuous, reflect their delight in the married

state. In “Plum Blossoms” the poetess speaks of

their love as a flower and compares the reunion

with her lover to the coming of spring, saying:

I come, my jade body fresh from the

bath . . .

Even Heaven shares our joy.

In 1126, Zhao Mingzheng was appointed the

Magistrate of Zizhuan (Tzu-chuan) in Shandong.

As first lady of the province, Li Qingzhao retained

her vigorous love for both poetry and the beauty

of nature. Relatives told stories of how she would

climb the city walls, even in the middle of a snow-

storm, to gain poetic inspiration from the view

of the mountains in the distance. Then tragedy

struck in 1127, when the city was invaded by the

Jin (Chin), a tribe of barbarians from the north,

who burned Li Qingzhao’s home, including her

10 rooms of books. When her beloved husband

fell ill and died, her poetry acquired a tone of ter-

rible sadness. In “Remorse,” the narrator wanders

in a dark room, looking at the rain, and says in

her grief:

Every fiber of my soft heart

Turns to a thousand strands of sorrow.

Even after she remarried, Qingzhao wrote po-

etry to her first husband that expressed her loss

and her longing, as in “Boat of Stars,” where she

writes:

. . . since you’ve gone

even the wine has lost its flavor.

Several of her poems lament the passing of

time, as in “The Washing Stream,” with its tone of

wistful sadness:

The pear blossoms fade and die

and I can’t keep them from falling.

Poetry of Li Qingzhao’s time was largely set to

music, and the manuscripts of her poems contain

directions for the tune to which each poem is to

be performed. The work of her mature years lack

the patriotic fire of some earlier poems, but they

still reflect her continued sense of the beautiful and

the artistic. Often her later poems contain a haunt-

ing sense of exile and loneliness, as in these lines

from an untitled lyric:

170 Li Po