ExclusiveLi Qingzhao in Troubled Times: Poetic Meaning Like a Knife --- #liqingzhao #songci #numberonetalentedwomanofalltime

In the starry river of Song Ci, gentle and smooth as jade, the name of Li Qingzhao is a highly discordant rift.

People are accustomed to imprisoning her on the pedestal of the "Master of the Graceful and Restrained School of Ci," watching her drown her sorrows in wine and lament the fallen flowers, as if she were merely a secluded woman locked deep behind heavy curtains. However, the real her was a "madman" within the order of the Northern Song dynasty. She drank, gambled, and married in a flash; not only did she dare to brazenly flip the table on the chessboard balanced by men, but she also commented on the state of the nation and displayed a spirit that engulfed thousands of miles as a woman.

From writing the "Discourse on Ci" at the age of twenty-five to harshly criticize the "top-tiers" of the literary circles, to the mortal revelry of "wager on books and splashing tea" with Zhao Mingcheng; from preferring imprisonment for the sake of dignity to report her scumbag husband Zhang Ruzhou, to writing down "In life, one should be a hero among people; in death, a champion among ghosts" to angrily criticize the Southern Song court's seeking of temporary peace. She spent her entire life building an uncompromising, peerless pride amidst a shattered, chaotic world.