The Works of Li Qingzhao, introduction and poems 1.1 to 1.5

[x_los]

This week we're reading The Works of Li Qingzhao, freely available via De Gruyter's Library of Chinese Humanities in Mandarin and English and via several publication formats, including two open access options (the pdf appears to be better formatted than the ebook; it might be worth someone letting them know as much). We're starting with the introduction and poems 1.1 to 1.5, inclusive.

This collection uses footnotes and end notes to explicate the work (though none of this week's poems has an end note).

We might get into more English exegesis, but this week the Introduction gives us more than enough of that to be getting on with.

CLP has an episode on Li Qingzhao you might find relevant.

Comments

Re: 1.5 感懷 Stirred by Feelings

[douqi]

There's a subgenre of classical Chinese poetry called the 'boudoir lament' (闺怨), often associated with women poets (though men wrote these too) where a lonely, neglected woman laments the absence of her lover/husband. The Baike entry I saw for this poem situates it adjacent to this genre but highlights that, to the extent that this poem fits within this category, it's an unusual specimen.