Li Shunxian 李舜弦 (c. 900 – 926,

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

) was a Chinese poet celebrated for her beauty and

poetic Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in a ...

talent. She was a

concubine Concubinage is an interpersonal and sexual relationship between a man and a woman in which the couple does not want, or cannot enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarded as similar but mutually exclusive. Concubi ...

of Wang Yan (

Wang Zongyan Wang Yan (王衍) (899–926), né Wang Zongyan (王宗衍), courtesy name Huayuan (化源), also known as Houzhu (後主, "later Lord"), later posthumously created the Duke of Shunzheng (順正公) by Later Tang, was the second and final emperor o ...

), the Chinese Emperor of

Former Shu Great Shu (Chinese: 大蜀, Pinyin: Dàshǔ) called in retrospect Former Shu (Chinese: 前蜀, Pinyin: Qiánshǔ) or occasionally Wang Shu (王蜀), was one of the Ten Kingdoms formed during the chaotic period between the rules of the Tang dynas ...

. She was famous for being a Chinese woman of Persian ancestry who was an accomplished poet in the Chinese language. Her Persian family had adopted the Chinese surname Li. After they fled the

Huang Chao Huang Chao (835 – July 13, 884) was a Chinese smuggler, soldier, and rebel, and is most well known for being the leader of a major rebellion that severely weakened the Tang dynasty. Huang was a Salt in Chinese history, salt smuggler before ...

rebellion into interior China (Sichuan), they rose to prominence in the Chinese court of the

Later Shu Shu (referred to as Later Shu () to differentiate it from Former Shu, other states named Shu in Chinese history), also known as Meng Shu (), was one of the Ten Kingdoms during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period in China. It was located ...

Kingdom. It is unknown whether she spoke Persian. It is also unknown whether her parents were immigrants to China or were born in China. It is believed that Shunxian's family was

Zoroastrian Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheistic on ...

because of one line in Shunxian's poem mentioning a "golden bullet for a catapult" which Veshparkar, an Iranian god was known to deploy. However, other scholars such as Chen Mingyuan reason that they were more likely

Nestorian Christians Nestorianism is a term used in Christian theology and Church history to refer to several mutually related but doctrinarily distinct sets of teachings. The first meaning of the term is related to the original teachings of Christian theologian N ...

because in China the Nestorians were known for their medicine, as Shunxian's brother Li Xu 李珣 was known to have written on. A third possibility is that following the

Islamization of Persia The Islamization of Iran occurred as a result of the Muslim conquest of Persia in 633–654 AD. It was a long process by which Islam, though initially rejected, eventually spread among the population. Iranians have maintained certain pre-Islamic ...

, Shunxian's family was Muslim. Nonetheless there is no direct evidence for any of these.

Life

Following the Huang Chao rebellion, Shunxian's family fled to Sichuan in the year 880. This migration was also along with many other Chinese including Emperor Xizong. She had an older brother Li Xun, who was also a poet and pharmacist at the court and wrote a Chinese book on drugs. They were born in Zi prefecture, Sichuan. The family's Persian ethnicity is mentioned in historical texts. As a concubine in the imperial court, Shunxian held the rank as Madame (夫人) which was just below the title of Empress (

consort __NOTOC__ Consort may refer to: Music * "The Consort" (Rufus Wainwright song), from the 2000 album ''Poses'' * Consort of instruments, term for instrumental ensembles * Consort song (musical), a characteristic English song form, late 16th–earl ...

). Their husband Wang Yan was born in 899, became emperor in 919 at 20 years old, and reigned until 924. He was known for his indulgence in women and wine. It is speculated that Shunxian was around the same age as Wang. It was here in the

harem Harem (Persian: حرمسرا ''haramsarā'', ar, حَرِيمٌ ''ḥarīm'', "a sacred inviolable place; harem; female members of the family") refers to domestic spaces that are reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A hare ...

that she began writing her renown poetry. The Ten-Thousand Quatrains of the Tang collected by Hongmai (洪邁) contains three poems by Shunxian. In

medieval China The earliest known written records of the history of China date from as early as 1250 BC, from the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC), during the reign of king Wu Ding. Ancient historical texts such as the '' Book of Documents'' (early chapte ...

, she is the only non-Chinese woman who composed literature in Chinese. Both she and her brother were known for their poetry, and Shunxian's poems are still preserved and read today. In 926, Shunxian, Wang Yan, and his other concubines were all brutally massacred by Emperor Li Zhuangzong of Later Tang. In the same

Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (), from 907 to 979, was an era of political upheaval and division in 10th-century Imperial China. Five dynastic states quickly succeeded one another in the Central Plain, and more than a dozen conc ...

another Persian woman called Mei Zhu was a concubine of another young Chinese Emperor called Liu Chang. He engaged in aphrodisiac fueled sex games with her. During the

(Wudai, 907–960), there were examples of Persian women marrying Chinese emperors. Some Chinese officials from the Song dynasty also married women from Dashi

rabia Rabia or Rabiah is the transliteration of two Arabic names written differently in Arabic text however they may be written similarly in the Latin script: * An Arabic, usually male name (' ) meaning "Spring" * An Arabic, female name (' ) meaning " ...

References

External links

*http://www.guoxuedashi.com/shici/bk1791y/ *http://www.renwen.com/wiki/%E6%9D%8E%E6%AE%89 {{DEFAULTSORT:Li, Shunxia 10th-century Chinese poets 10th-century Iranian people Chinese people of Iranian descent Executed Later Tang people Executed people from Sichuan Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms imperial consorts Former Shu poets Iranian women poets Chinese women poets People executed by Later Tang Poets from Sichuan Writers from Mianyang 10th-century Chinese women 10th-century Chinese people Chinese concubines 10th-century Chinese women writers 900 births 926 deaths Year of birth uncertain

Life

See also

References

External links