| Abstract: | Li Qingzhao (李清照), born in Jinan (濟南), Shandong Province, China, in 1084, in the time of the Song dynasty (960–1276 CE), is one of China’s most popular poets, celebrated mostly for her ci-(詞) form poetry, or song lyrics.1 In recent decades, Li has received more serious critical attention from Chinese Literature scholars—namely, Zheng Chengduo (鄭振鐸), Kang Zheng (康震), Lin Zeng Wen (林增文), Jiang Han Chun, Jiang Han Sen (姜漢椿, 姜漢森), and, foremost, Xu Beiwen (徐北文).2 As those scholars amply point out, Li’s achievements with the ci-form tradition match or outdo the efforts of her contemporaries. Critical interest in the formal qualities of Li’s ci-form poetry inclusive of issues of translation and other formal and textual concerns also has expanded to include attention to the role that gender plays in Li’s poetry. Scholars persuasively argue that Li’s ci-form poems constitute and forward powerful critical connections... |
