This sharp contrast arises from the changes in Li Qingzhao’s life circumstances. Li Qingzhao's family background is very good. His father is a foreign minister in the imperial court and a member of the Ministry of Rites. Li Qingzhao's father was a Jinshi scholar and liked to collect classical books. Li Qingzhao's mother also came from a scholarly family, so she was very literary. A family environment with no worries about food and clothing, coupled with the influence of his parents, made Li Qingzhao rich and talented since he was a child. People like Wang Zhuo, Chao Buzhi and Zhu Yu all praised Li Qingzhao.
Although the Northern Song Dynasty at that time was already corrupt and had frequent social conflicts, these were irrelevant matters to Li Qingzhao. Because the society that Li Qingzhao came into contact with was the superior family background and the prosperity of Kyoto, Li Qingzhao, who grew up in this environment, naturally did not worry too much about national affairs. Because of this, Li Qingzhao's early works mainly focused on life in the boudoir, natural scenery and personal feelings.
When Li Qingzhao turned eighteen, she married Zhao Mingcheng, who was three years older than her. The two of them are a perfect match, so their married life is also very happy. Unfortunately, in the second year of their marriage, Li Qingzhao's father was involved in party strife and was no longer allowed to hold office in Beijing. Being implicated, Li Qingzhao was forced to leave the capital and return to his hometown even though he was married. After almost two years of separation, Li Qingzhao was able to return to Beijing to reunite with Zhao Mingcheng. However, not long after the reunion, Zhao Mingcheng's family also suffered disaster due to Cai Jing's frame-up, and finally the Zhao family had to leave the capital.
After leaving Beijing, Li Qingzhao and Zhao Mingcheng returned to Qingzhou. Although their family circumstances changed suddenly, fortunately they could stay together. After returning to Qingzhou, the couple lived a very leisurely life in the countryside. During this period, Li Qingzhao and Zhao Mingcheng collected ancient books, calligraphy and paintings everywhere. In the first year of Jianyan, the Northern Song Dynasty finally came to an end. Two years later, Zhao Mingcheng died of illness. First, the country was destroyed, and then he lost his husband. These two things had a great impact on Li Qingzhao's mentality.
Not only that, during the subsequent escape process, Li Qingzhao lost most of the books and cultural relics he had collected so hard earlier. In such a helpless situation, Li Qingzhao married a man named Zhang Ruzhou. She never thought that this man didn't really like her, but just coveted the ancient calligraphy and painting books in her hand. Although Li Qingzhao divorced Zhang Ruzhou successfully in the end, the hurt caused to her by this relationship never dissipated. Li Qingzhao, who encountered successive changes in her life and was left alone in the end, devoted all her emotions into her works. Therefore, most of her later works are dominated by sadness and loneliness.