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
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 ...
(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 " ...
See also
*
Iranians in China
Iranian people such as Persians and Sogdians have lived in China throughout various periods in Chinese history.
History
The Parthian Iranians, An Shigao and An Xuan, introduced Buddhism to China.
A village dating back 600 years in Yangzhou in Jia ...
*
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 ...
*
Liu Chang
*
Lin Nu Lin Nu (林駑, Xiao'erjing: ) was a Chinese merchant and scholar in the early Ming dynasty. He is the ancestor of the philosopher Li Zhi. His family was Han Chinese in origin and the branch that remained true to Han culture cut off the Lin Nu's bra ...
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