A female journey to reach knowledge in ancient China.
Every Chinese person knows her. She is the most famous poetess in China.
She was born in Shandong Province and spent her childhood in her hometown. Her father was not particularly rich, but gave her a good education.
She and her cousin played and studied together and grew up together.
As a teenager, she went to live with her father in the capital. The prosperity of the big city gave her a great deal of insight. She wrote her famous poem: Ru Meng Ling.
In the capital city, she also met her cousin’s best friend, Zhao Mingcheng. They met and fell in love freely, then got married.
Zhao Mingcheng’s father, Zhao Ting, was the Minister of Organization at the time, with a high and powerful position and a strong family background.
In 1101, 21-year-old Zhao Mingcheng and 18-year-old Li Qingzhao fell in love at first sight.
Although they had a rich and powerful family, the couple lived a very simple life, as they spent most of their money on antique stone tablets and books.
Unfortunately, the year after the marriage, Li Qingzhao’s father was dismissed for political reasons, while Zhao Mingcheng’s father was promoted all the way. The family aspect of the two laid the groundwork for conflict.
In the third year after the marriage, Zhao Mingcheng worked as an official in the capital, but Li Qingzhao was dismissed to her hometown because of her father’s political problems. The couple began to live in long distance from then on.
Li Qingzhao’s famous “Drunken Flowers” was written at this time to express her longing for her husband.
## Tipsy in the Flowers’ Shade
Veiled in thin mist and thick cloud, how sad the long day!
Incense from golden censer melts away.
The Double Ninth comes again; Alone I still remain
In silken bed curtain, on pillow smooth like jade.
Feeling the midnight chill invade.
At dusk I drink before chrysanthemums in bloom,
My sleeves flled with fragrance and gloom. Say not my soul
Is not consumed. Should the west wind uproll
The curtain of my bower,
You’ ll see a face thinner than yellow flower.
In 1107, Zhao Mingcheng’s father was also persecuted because of the political struggle, and Zhao Mingcheng had to return to his hometown as well. But he could at least be reunited with his wife. Li Qingzhao named their new home: Returning Hall.
For more than ten years after that, they lived a very happy life. Because they were away from the bustle and complexity of the big city, they could instead quietly study the monuments and books they loved.
In 1127, the country went to war and the Northern Song government ran out of steam. In the same year, Zhao Mingcheng was promoted to be the mayor of the city of Jiangning.
In February 1129, Zhao Mingcheng abandoned his city and fled alone.
In March, Li Qingzhao was very dissatisfied with her husband’s behavior and wrote her famous poem: A Summer Verse. The poem draws on the past to criticize and satirize the uninspired and lazy attitude of the dynasty through the story of Xiang Yu, a hero in history.
In August, Zhao Mingcheng passed away.
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