Li Qingzhao was a famous talented woman of the Song Dynasty, and her life was extremely eye-catching. So, how did this renowned first female poet live her life? Below, the history encyclopedia editor will bring you a detailed introduction. Let’s take a look together.
In order to get to know each other early, gambling on books can dispel the fragrance of tea
Li Qingzhao, who was born into a scholarly family during the Song Dynasty, showed extraordinary talent in poetry under the influence of her father Li Gefei from a young age. Li Gefei is also unusual. He did not follow the mainstream of ancient society and believed that ‘a woman without talent is virtuous’. Instead, in his spare time, he taught Li Qingzhao the Four Books and Five Classics step by step.
Due to Li Gefei’s comparable expertise in the field of Confucian classics and history, Li Qingzhao, who had Li Gefei as his teacher, only studied for a few short years and became famous among a group of wealthy ladies.
At the age of eighteen, during a lantern festival, 18-year-old Li Qingzhao and 21-year-old Zhao Mingcheng met and fell in love. After a brief interaction, there were already signs of a “lifelong commitment”.
Fortunately, at that time, Zhao Tingzhi, the father of Zhao Mingcheng, sensed his son’s thoughts and directly spoke out, requesting to end their good relationship with Li Gefei. Li Gefei, who knew his own daughter very well, had been waiting for the Zhao family to propose marriage for a long time. After making false excuses, he agreed to the marriage for his daughter.
So, in the autumn of 101 AD, the fresh and graceful Li Qingzhao and the graceful and courteous Zhao Mingcheng formed a perfect match, becoming a model couple later known as “soulmates”. Since they are both ‘soulmates’, there is nothing to say about the marital life of Li Qingzhao and Zhao Mingcheng. The famous poet Nalan Rongruo from the Qing Dynasty vividly portrayed the married life of Li Qingzhao and Zhao Mingcheng with the phrase ‘gambling on books fades away like pouring tea fragrance’.
Family ties lead to great changes, the court overturned, and my husband fell ill and died
Li Qingzhao and Zhao Mingcheng had not been married for long when Li Gefei, the father of Li Qingzhao, was dismissed for being labeled as a member of the Yuanyou Party. As the daughter of Li Gefei, Li Qingzhao is naturally implicated.
Fortunately, Li Qingzhao usually focuses solely on reading books from the sages. Occasionally, when he goes out, he either buys books with his husband or goes shopping for collectibles such as calligraphy and painting. In addition, Duke Zhao Tingzhi held the position of “Left Deputy Minister” in the court (there was also a Right Deputy Minister who held a position equivalent to that of a prime minister during the Tang and Song dynasties), which saved the loving life of Li Qingzhao and Zhao Mingcheng.
Despite experiencing this change, Li Qingzhao’s mentality was not affected. The couple not only built a ‘Returning Hall’, but Zhao Mingcheng also wrote a book called ‘Records of the Golden Stone’ specifically for their collection.
Just a few years after settling down, Zhao Mingcheng, as the “Grand Secretary”, was appointed by the court and had to leave Li Qingzhao to become the governor of Laizhou alone. After several transfers, Zhao Mingcheng moved to Jiangning again. It was also in Jiangning that triggered the first disagreement between Zhao Mingcheng and Li Qingzhao.
The historical background of the Song Dynasty is well known to everyone. The repeated southward invasions of the Jin Dynasty in the north led to a prolonged period of instability in the Song Dynasty. Not long after Zhao Mingcheng took office in Jiangning, the Jin army came to fight, and as a civil servant, Zhao Mingcheng naturally found it difficult to resist, so he abandoned the city and left Jiangning.
Life hates water forever, and from then on, I will be isolated and cut off from the mortal world
After learning about Zhao Mingcheng’s actions, Li Qingzhao was so angry that he wrote the five character quatrain “Born as a talented person, died as a ghost hero”. Perhaps knowing that Li Qingzhao was extremely disappointed in him, Zhao Mingcheng was so anxious that he couldn’t get up and died of illness on his way to Huzhou on August 18th.
For a long time after Zhao Mingcheng died of illness, Li Qingzhao was unable to break free from Zhao Mingcheng’s “weakness”. At this time, the “shame of Jingkang” had already occurred. Under the turmoil, Li Qingzhao had no choice but to marry her second husband Zhang Ruzhou.
But Zhang Ruzhou had no good intentions when he first came into contact with Li Qingzhao. He knew that Li Qingzhao had collected countless famous paintings, calligraphy, and antiques with Zhao Mingcheng in his early years, and he thought that after marrying Li Qingzhao home, he could occupy these “precious gold and stone objects”.
But in fact, Li Qingzhao himself regarded these as treasures and would not take them away just because he got married. So, the first recorded “female husband” incident in history occurred.
But it was precisely because of this incident that not only did Li Qingzhao’s reputation plummet, but it also planted the seeds of disaster for her impoverished later years.
Conclusion
Li Qingzhao’s life was not happy, it had already become a thing of the past with her words’ searching, searching, desolate, and miserable ‘. But both Li Qingzhao’s life and poetry are telling people about the sincere heart in her.
