Portrait of Li Qingzhao

It is that time of the year again when the entire Hangzhou is intoxicated by the sweet-scented osmanthus flowers. A Ci poem by Li Qingzhao springs to one’s mind.

To the Tune of Huan Xi Sha (Expanded Version):

Rising from illness, I find more greying in my thinning temple hairs;

Lying on bed, I watch the waxing moon climb above window screens.

Together with shoots, cardamom seeds are boiled for me,

For there’s no need to brew tea.

On my pillow I can read books at leisure,

While the doorstep scene in rain gives much pleasure.

Keeping me company all day long through my lonely hours

Are the sweet osmanthus flowers.

In the poem, despite the companionship of sweet osmanthus flowers and her claim that “the doorstep scene in rain gives much pleasure”, Li Qingzhao was in fact quite melancholic.

Born in Jinan in China’s Shandong province and one of the nation’s greatest women poets, Li Qingzhao(1084-1155) is believed to have penned To the Tune of Huan Xi Sha (Expanded Version) when she just reached fifty, a few years after the Northern Song (960-1127) court moved to Zhejiang. The Ci poem, describing her life after she recovered from illness, is so realistic and such a departure from her general writing style that some argued it was not authored by Li at all.

The shift was thought to lie in a change of fortunes for her, both personally and dynastically. Raised in a family of a family of scholar-officials, Li Qingzhao was able to receive a good education in her childhood. Her poetry was already well known within elite circles before her marriage in 1101 with Zhao Mingcheng (1081-1129). The couple shared interests in art collection and epigraphy, and enjoyed a comfortable and happy life, an inspiration for some of her love poems.

Things took a turn for the worse when the Northern Song was forced to flee to the south as its capital fell to the Jurchens. On their route to the south, Zhao died of illness, a crushing blow from which Li never recovered. Li and her husband had collected books, paintings and calligraphies, but they were mostly lost, stolen or burned during the process.

In 1132, Li Qingzhao arrived in Hangzhou. Although her life as a “refugee” had come to a stop for now, without family or support, she was totally on her own. At the time, an official by the name of Zhang Ruzhou began to court her, and soon after Li married Zhang. But in turned out Zhang had ulterior motives: he coveted the precious collections that Li was believed to still possess. Upon learning Li had little to none after marrying her, Zhang did an about-face, treating Li badly and even beating her up. Li later filed for divorce, which the authorities granted. She also found Zhang obtained his position through cheating and reported it to the government; Zhang was removed from his post that very autumn.

In all probability, Li Qingzhao fell ill after all the exhaustions from travelling to the south and the unhappy episode with Zhao Ruzhou. To the Tune of Huan Xi Sha (Expanded Version) was written under such circumstances, and we can well imagine how she felt at that time.

In over two decades after Li reached Hangzhou in the spring of 1132, she journeyed back and forth between Jinhua and Hangzhou many times. Where did she stay in Hangzhou?

One suggestion is that she lived near the Qingbo Gate, not far from the royal palace. If it was indeed the case, Li was at least leading a relatively conformable life, for the rent in the downtown area was not cheap. In fact, a pavilion in her name — Qingzhao Pavilion — was set up in 2002 by the West Lake to commemorate the ill-fated lady. Unfortunately, for whatever reasons, Li had never composed any poems on the West Lake.

Another suggestion is that she was put up around Macheng Road. According to various historical records, Macheng was a place in the “outer city”, and used to be an area where King Qian Liu (852-932) of the Kingdom of Wuyue (907-978) raised his 30,000-odd horses. Hence the name “Ma” (horse) “Cheng” (field). In the Southern Song (1127-1279) period, Macheng became a field where flowers and plants were grown, and where average “Northern Song immigrants” congregated. If Li Qingzhao was proved to reside here, it means her living conditions had worsened.

As years pass by, the original Macheng is nowhere to be found; all that has been left is only the name “Macheng Road”.

Editor: Huang Yan