Poetry at Sangam

SangamHouse

 










Li Qingzhao

Li Qingzhao was born into a scholar-official family in the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) and received a good education at home in present-day Jinan of Shandong Province. In 1101, she married Zhao Mingcheng (1081-1129), a brilliant Imperial University student who had a strong interest in epigraphy and archaeology. Their marriage was hailed among the literati. Li Qingzhao wrote many lyrics expressing her happiness, love, loneliness, longings, and sufferings, which reflected the ups and downs of her life and the defeat of the Northern Song Dynasty by Jurchens from the North. The selected Ci poem ‘Slow, Slow Tune’ (sheng sheng man) is regarded as an unsurpassed paragon. Ci, a type of poetry akin to lyrics created for musical accompaniment, reached its summit in Song literature. Each Ci has a Cipai, the name of the tonal pattern deciding the rhythm and form of a verse. The very name of the Cipai “Slow, Slow Tune” indicates that the tune is slow and long. Written in her later life after the death of her husband, “Slow, Slow Time” expresses Li Qingzhao’s boundless grief over her losses, not only for her beloved but also family and homeland lost earlier in the chaotic war in the north.

 

 

Curated by Lu Min

 

Poems by Li Qingzhao translated by Liu Yuanhao

Slow, Slow Tune

 

 

 

Audio recording of Slow Slow Tune in English Download
Audio recording of Slow Slow Tune in ChineseDownload