Ode to Melancholy ----- the Story of Lord Li

Li Yu (936-978), known as the "Lord Li", among the countless number of renowned poets and writers in the 3000 years of Chinese civilization, is my favourite one.

He was born during the time of civil wars, when China was divided into mainly 3 parts: the North, ruled by the Song Dynasty, the West, ruled by the Shu Dynasty, and the South, which covered the richest provinces both economicwise and culturewise in the country, Tang Dynasty. Li Yu, the prince of Tang Dynasty, ascended to the throne at the age of 22. Both his father and grandfather's royal tombs are still in my hometown, JiangXi, and he himself loved spending summers in Lu Shan, where one of his villas still lies.

Li Yu has been considered as the first true master of Chinese lyrical poems. Before him, lyrical poems existed as a sugary hip-pop form of literature, used mainly as love song lyrics for Geisha's performances. Li Yu was the first one to express his own feelings, thoughts, philosophy, love and pain using the form of lyrical poems, and he did it with words that are so natural, so fluently and effortlessly arranged---as if improsvised on the spot---yet so deeply moving and thought provoking, that he brought this form of literature to life. He single-handedly changed the lyrical poem from being the toy of singsong girls to being a serious art which was to dominate the Chinese literature world for the 800 years that followed.

On the other hand, his poems gave you such a vivid sense of flowing music with melodies and pauses created by his ingenious arrangements of rhymes and structures, that no other poems were preferred over his by the singsong girls as well.

Asides from the talent in literature, he was also a famous brush painter, calligraphor, Gu qin player, and book collector. There were over 20,0000 rare books in the palace of Tang, each one picked by his own eyes and notated with his own handwriting.

Lord Li was also deeply interested in the philosophy of Zen and Buddhism. He spent vast amount of time and money inviting Zen masters from all over the country for talks as well funding their endless tours and temples.

In 977, The Dynasty of Tang was defeated by the North and China was united. Most of Lord Li's collections of books and paintings were burnt down in a fire set by himself---He had planned to die with his works and pride at the news of "enemy at the gates". Before doing so, he sent away all his concubines and servants to run for their own lives, instead of making them his Majesty's sacrificial objects as the tradition at his time suggested. The only person who stayed with him was his beloved queen---Empress Zhou.

Suicide requires enormous courage, a thing this sensitive artist probably lacked. Lord Li, at the age of 39, became the prisoner of the Emperor of Song. He had to move to the North now. He was put on a boat and left his hometown, Nanking, once and for good.

Lord Li quickly received enough pain and humiliation to make one question whether a suicide earlier would have been the wiser choice ---- locked up in a small yard with his wife and a few servants, he had to dress up as a servent to wait on the Song Emperor whenever a banqeut came up, his beautiful queen was often called in by the Song Emperor for "chats" and sent back after midnight, when all he could do was sitting in his small jail-like home, drunk, waiting for her to come back.

It was during this time, when he composed some of his most famous poems. Writing was the only world left for him to hide into. This personal pain of his moved millions of souls to tears in the 1000 years to come. Nietzsche once said: Among all the words, I only love those written in blood.

Lord Li, in this sense, is indeed a lovable writer.

July 7, 978 was Chinese traditional Valentine's day. It was also Lord Li's birthday. He composed a short lyrical poem, which, in a veiled manner, lamented on the loss his country. He was drunk, and asked a singsong girl to sing this poem for him. The music spread to the nearby Palace of Song, and the lyrics offended the Emperor.Lord Li was bestowed a poisonous cup of wine which ended his 41 years of legendary life.

He was posthumously created the Prince of South by the Song Emperor. His queen committed suicide two months afterwards. And that, was the story of Lord Li.

Here comes his last poem, the one for which he unreluctantly paid his life.




Ode to Melancholy


On pedals and leaves the moon gently cast,

her endless calls for the past.

East wind sighs on and on,

alluring you with sweet memories

of the desolate hometown.


Carved balustrates and jade steps

still await thither,

'twas only your own youth

that silently withered.


How long of a way does melancholy go?

Just like a river,

to the east it forever flows.



Sweewawa