Li E (; 1692–1752),

courtesy name A courtesy name (), also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name. This practice is a tradition in the East Asian cultural sphere, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.Ulrich Theobald ...

Taihong (太鴻), ''

hao Hao or HAO may refer to: People * Hao (surname) (Chinese: ) * Hao (video gamer), Chinese professional ''Dota 2'' player * Leo Hao, Russian artist *Heather O'Reilly, Professional soccer player Places * Hao (city), or Haojing (), capital of the ...

'' Fanxie (樊榭), was a

Qing Dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

Chinese poet, essayist, and scholar. Known for his erudition and his poems of the "pure and spare" style, Li is recognized as one of the leaders of the Zhejiang School of poetry.

Life

Born in a poor family in Qiantang (modern

Hangzhou Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the province, sitting at the head of Hangzhou Bay, whi ...

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiang ...

) and orphaned in early childhood, Li E nevertheless became well educated and made a living as a tutor for many years. In 1720 he passed the

imperial examination The imperial examination (; lit. "subject recommendation") refers to a civil-service examination system in Imperial China, administered for the purpose of selecting candidates for the state bureaucracy. The concept of choosing bureaucrats by ...

for the ''juren'' degree, but was unable to advance his career in government, partly due to his temperament. Instead, he made a name for himself as the most erudite person with regard to

Song Dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

poetry. He is widely considered a leader of the Zhejiang School of poetry (also known as Western Zhejiang School of Lyrics), which was started by Zha Shenxing and

Zhu Yizun Zhu Yizun (; 1629–1709) was an author and poet during the Qing dynasty. In his early literary career, Zhu was recognized for his talent and helped by Gong Dingzi.Zhang, 82 Zhu became the founder of the Zhexi school of ''ci'' poetry (song lyrics ...

. Li E valued his interest in scholarship more than his worldly career. When he was passing through

Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popul ...

on the way to capital

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

for a government appointment, he was invited to stay with the wealthy scholar Zha Weiren. When he found out that Zha had been working on annotating 13th-century scholar Zhou Mi's ''Jue Miao Hao Ci'' (Best of the Best Lyrics), Li abandoned his appointment and decided to join forces with Zha. In 1749, they completed their work ''Jue Miao Hao Ci Jian'' (An Annotated Best of the Best Lyrics), which was printed the following year. Li E died two years later in 1752.

Works

Besides ''Jue Miao Hao Ci Jian'', Li's major works include ''Fanxie Shanfang Ji'' 樊榭山房集 (The Collection of Fanxie Mountain Studio, 20 volumes), and the monumental annotated

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...

'' Song Shi Jishi'' (''Recorded Occasions in Song Poetry''), which comprises 100 volumes, with a preface written in 1746. ''Song Shi Jishi'' was modelled after ''Tang Shi Jishi'', a valuable anthology of

Tang Dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

poems compiled by

Ji Yougong Ji or JI may refer to: Names and titles * Ji (surname), the pinyin romanization of a number of distinct Chinese surnames * Ji (Korean name), a Korean surname and element in given names (including lists of people with the name) * -ji, an honorific ...

(計有功) in the twelfth century.

Style

Like Zhu Yizun, Li E was an admirer of the ''qingkong'' (pure and spare) style of Song Dynasty poets

Jiang Kui Jiāng Kuí () (c. 1155 Poyang – c. 1221 Hangzhou), courtesy name Yaozhang (), Art name Baishi Daoren (). Also known as "Jiang Baishi" () was a famous Chinese poet, composer, poetry theorist and calligrapher of the Song Dynasty, particularl ...

and Zhang Yan. One of Li's famous lines, "雨洗秋濃人淡", comprises six

Chinese characters Chinese characters () are logograms developed for the writing of Chinese. In addition, they have been adapted to write other East Asian languages, and remain a key component of the Japanese writing system where they are known as ''kanji' ...

that literally read: "rain/wash/autumn/lush/people/pale". It is translated by Shirleen S. Wong as "Autumn ablaze with colors after rain, but paler she looks". This "pure and spare" style attempts to create an impression of etherealness and delicateness, in contrast to the boastful expressions in the works of poets such as

Su Shi Su Shi (; 8 January 1037 – 24 August 1101), courtesy name Zizhan (), art name Dongpo (), was a Chinese calligrapher, essayist, gastronomer, pharmacologist, poet, politician, and travel writer during the Song dynasty. A major personality of ...

and

Xin Qiji Xin Qiji (28 May 1140 – 3 Oct 1207) was a Chinese calligrapher, military general, and poet during the Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279). Life During Xin's lifetime, northern China was occupied during the Jin–Song Wars by the Jurchens of t ...

. A major proportion of Li E's poetic creations are landscape poems, often about his beloved hometown of Hangzhou. It is said that he had written at least one poem about every well known scenic spot in the city. For example, one of his poems about the

Lingyin Temple Lingyin Temple () is a Buddhist temple of the Chan sect located north-west of Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China. The temple's name is commonly literally translated as Temple of the Soul's Retreat. It is one of the largest and wealthiest Buddhis ...

reads: "Atop crowded peaks the moon shines; Amid jumbled leaves a stream flows. One lamp sets all motion to rest. The lone sound of a chime empties the Four Skies." Li's poetry is often imbued with an air of quiet beauty, but he is also known to have a penchant to use obscure allusions or words in his poems.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Li, E 1692 births 1752 deaths Qing dynasty poets 18th-century Chinese poets Writers from Hangzhou Qing dynasty essayists Chinese poetry anthologists Poets from Zhejiang