Li Shangyin

Li Shangyin

Li Shangyin (about 813 ~ 858), a native of Hanoi (now Qinyang County, Henan Province), was born in Yuxi. A famous poet in the late Tang Dynasty, he and Du Mu were called "Xiao Li Du".

In the second year of Kaicheng (837), he became a Jinshi Ji, a secretary of the province. He moved to Hongnong county and became an aide of Wang MaoYuan (father-in-law). Being involved in the political whirlpool of "the struggle between the ox and the Li party", he was pushed out of the way and failed in his whole life. At the end of Dazhong, he died in Zhengzhou.

Li Shangyin was one of the few poets who pursued the beauty of poetry in the late Tang Dynasty and even the whole Tang Dynasty. He is good at poetry writing and has high literary value of parallel prose. His poems are novel in conception and beautiful in style, especially some love poems and untitled poems, which are sentimental, beautiful and moving. However, some of the Poems (represented by Jinse) are too obscure and obscure to be understood. There is a saying that "poets always love Xikun and hate no one to write Zheng Jian".

Life of the characters

Early life

In 816, Li Shangyin was about three years old and went to Zhejiang with Li Si. Less than ten years old, Li Si died. Li Shangyin had to return home with his mother and lived a hard and poor life. At home, Li Shangyin is the eldest son, so he also bears the responsibility of supporting the portal. In his article, Li Shangyin mentioned that in his youth, he used to "sell books by hand", that is, copy books for others to earn money to supplement his family. Li Shangyin "recited scriptures at the age of five and got pens and inkstones at the age of seven". After returning to his hometown, he once received scriptures and essays from a cousin who was proficient in Wujing and primary school. At the age of 16, he got his name because he was good at ancient prose. What's more, it has beautiful Gongkai and good articles.

In 829, he moved to Luoyang and got to know Bai Juyi, Ling huchu and others. Linghu Chu appreciated Li Shangyin's literary talent and attached great importance to it. He made Li Shangyin and his son Linghu Luo make friends with each other and taught him the theory of modern style (Pianli) Zhangzuo in person. He also "gave the capital the gift of the year, and ordered him to go to the capital as soon as possible.". Later, he was employed as a inspector, and he went to Yunzhou, Taiyuan and other places successively. In the past few years, Li Shangyin took the exam and tried hard to learn prose. Although he failed repeatedly in the imperial examination, he completed the transformation from prose to parallel writing. Since then, he seldom wrote prose.

In 833, Linghu Chu was transferred to Beijing, and Li Shangyin returned from Taiyuan. After that, Li Shangyin studied Taoism in Wangwu mountain for two or three years, which had a certain impact on his thought and creation.

In the second year of Kaicheng (837), after a long period of hard study and due to the reputation of Linghu Luo, Li Shangyin was awarded the middle Jinshi.

The road to the examination

In 837, Li Shangyin was admitted as a Jinshi. Before that, he had failed many times. It is difficult to verify the year of Li Shangyin's first application. Some people believe that even 10 years ago, that is, the second year of Wenzong Taihe (828), Li Shangyin began his long and arduous road of application. Like most candidates who lack a powerful background, Li Shangyin does not expect to succeed at one stroke. He didn't mention the situation at that time in his poems, which shows that he didn't care much about the failure of the first test. However, as the number of failures increased, he gradually began to be dissatisfied. In the poem "send off Weng Cong from Dongchuan Hongnong shangshumu", he compares the examiners who didn't admit him (in the seventh year of Taihe) to the villains who obstructed his success: "in the reign of Luan emperor, the birds will not spar each other."

The failure of the exam will not make Li Shangyin reflect on his lack of knowledge. As early as in the fourth year of Taihe, Ling Hu long, who had been studying with him, had won the entrance examination. This is obviously not because Linghu's academic talent is better than Li Shangyin, but because of the influence of his father Linghu Chu. It was a common phenomenon in the imperial examination of Tang Dynasty that the dignitaries helped each other to recruit a large number of candidates from the upper class social network. Many examinees who lack support will deliberately make friends before the exam, or come up with various ways to attract the attention of examiners and celebrities. According to Li Shangyin, he is relatively low-key in this respect (a book with Tao Jinshi), but it is unlikely that he did not place any hope on Ling huchu. From a letter written by Li Shangyin to Ling HuLong in the first year of Kaicheng, it can be seen that his mood has been quite irritable. In the second year of Kaicheng, Linghu and his son exerted influence on the examiners on duty.

Official career

In the spring of the third year of Kaicheng (838), Li Shangyin failed to take part in the imperial examination. Shortly after taking part in the funeral of Linghu Chu, Li Shangyin went to Jingzhou (now Jingchuan County, Gansu Province) as Wang Maoyuan's aide. Wang MaoYuan appreciated Li Shangyin's talent and married his daughter to him. From Li Shangyin's later experience, we can see that this marriage dragged him into the political whirlpool of the struggle between Niu and Li. The embarrassing situation of Li Shangyin lies in: Wang MaoYuan and Li Deyu are friendly and regarded as members of "Li party"; while Linghu Chu and his son belong to "Niu party". Therefore, Li Shangyin's behavior was easily interpreted as a betrayal to his teacher and benefactor who had just died, and he soon paid a price for it. In the Tang Dynasty, the qualification of Jinshi was not granted to officials immediately, but also required to pass the examination held by the Ministry of officials.

In the spring of the third year of Kaicheng (838), Li Shangyin took part in the official examination, and was removed from the examination. The most direct influence of this incident on Li Shangyin was that it delayed his official position for one year.

In the fourth year of Kaicheng (839), Li Shangyin took part in the official examination again, passed the examination successfully, and got the position of secretary of the province. Soon after, he was transferred to the county captain of Hongnong (now Lingbao City, Henan Province). Although the rank of county captain is similar to that of xiaoshulang, the distance from the center of power will obviously affect the future development. Li Shangyin had a bad time in Hongnong's office, because he was reprimanded by Sun Jian, the supervisor of shangguo, because he reduced the sentence of death row prisoner. As a result, Li Shangyin felt very humiliated and unbearable, and finally resigned by asking for a long leave. Coincidentally, before and after this, Sun Jian was transferred. Yao he, who took over the post, managed to ease the tension. Under his persuasion, Li Shangyin reluctantly stayed. But he is obviously not in the mood to continue working. In 840, he resigned again and got permission.

Leisure period

After resigning from Hongnong County, in the second year of Huichang (842), Li Shangyin took it as a correct word that he returned to the Secretary province after being elected by the court, and made Ding's mother worry about living at home. Li Shangyin had to leave his job and return home for three years. This means that Li Shangyin, who has been in power for years, has to give up the best chance to join the power class. This incident is a fatal blow to Li Shangyin's political career. Li Shangyin's three years of staying at home (from the end of the second year of Huichang to the end of the fourth year of Huichang) was the most glorious period of his administration. Miss this period, with the death of Wuzong soon after, Li Deyu political group suddenly lost power, Li Shangyin has been difficult to find a political confidant.

In the third year of Huichang (843), Wang Maoyuan, Li Shangyin's father-in-law, died when he was fighting against Liu Zhen's rebellion on behalf of the government. Wang MaoYuan did not use his influence to help Li Shangyin's promotion, but his death undoubtedly made Li Shangyin's situation more difficult.

In the late spring of the fourth year of Huichang (844), he moved from Guanzhong to Yongle. In the winter of the fifth year (845), Fu entered Beijing, which is still the official name of the province. This time, his position ("Zhengzi") was lower than that of his predecessor ("xiaoshulang"). Even so, after all, Li Shangyin has a new starting point for development. In the Tang Dynasty, it was generally believed that officials in the capital would have more opportunities to be promoted than those who were sent abroad, and Li Shangyin's secretary province was more likely to attract the attention of senior officials. Another good news for Li Shangyin is that Prime Minister Li Deyu has gained the full trust of Wuzong. This capable politician is almost granted full power to handle the government affairs. Li Shangyin actively supported Li Deyu's political ideas. He was full of ambition and had reason to look forward to the opportunity of being reused.

Li Shangyin dealt with some family affairs in his leisure years. One of the most important tasks was to move some relatives' tombs back to the family cemetery in his hometown. This effort to protect the family honor made him obtain psychological satisfaction. From some of the existing poems, we can see that Li Shangyin tried to adjust his mentality and weaken his interest and expectation in political career. He sometimes engaged in farming, claiming that he was "thirsty for the farmer's wish to look forward to the new year", and imitated Tao Yuanming's style to write pastoral poetry. However, the chaotic situation has always attracted Li Shangyin's attention. He has a very clear political inclination and can hardly hide it.

Shogunate Tour

In October of the fifth year of Huichang (845), Li Shangyin ended his filial piety and returned to the Secretary province. At this time, the efficient cooperative relationship between Wuzong and Prime Minister Li Deyu had reached the late stage. In March of the next year, Wuzong died. It is said that he died of poisoning because he had been taking the longevity medicine offered by the Taoist priest for a long time. After a series of court struggles, Xuanzong Li Chen ascended the throne and opposed most of Wuzong's policies, especially Li Deyu. As a result, almost the whole six years of Huichang (846) witnessed a new round of political cleansing, and the Prime Minister Li Deyu and his supporters, who had been in power for a while, were quickly excluded from the center of power. With the support of Xuanzong himself, the new forces of niudang led by Bai Minzhong gradually occupied an important position in the government.

In the sixth year of Huichang (846), Li Shangyin served as secretary of the provincial government. Thirty five year old Li Shangyin finally has a son (Li gunshi), and his cousin Li xisuo has become a scholar in this year. These two good news may only make him excited for a while. Because of his support for Li Deyu's political program and his previous betrayal by Linghu and others, he is unlikely to share the victory of the bull party

Chinese PinYin : Li Shang Yin