Poets express their passion through poetry creation and chanting, eulogize the great rivers and mountains of the motherland through poetry, and extol the truth, goodness and beauty of the world through poetry. Below is a brief introduction to the four major female poets of the Tang Dynasty that I have collected for you. You are welcome to learn from and refer to them. I hope it will be helpful to you.
Li Ye, the beautiful female crown
Li Ye (? - 784 AD), named Ji Lan, was a female Taoist priest from Wucheng, Zhejiang (now Wuxing, Zhejiang) in the early middle Tang Dynasty. She is a famous female poet in the poetry world of the Mid-Tang Dynasty.
Like many famous poets, Ji Lan also belongs to the category of "weak age and early wisdom". According to the "Chronicle of Tang Poems", she was able to write poems when she was five or six years old, and even wrote "Ode to the Rose", which goes like this: "The passage of time has not yet settled, and my mind is in chaos." "Frame" and "marry" are homophonic, and her father Therefore, it is predicted that she "will become a delinquent woman". Although this so-called "poetic prophecy" story is suspected to be fabricated by later generations, Ji Lan's life path is indeed not smooth, and she can indeed be called a romantic woman. In the Tang Dynasty, the trend of women becoming Taoists was very popular, and those women who "washed their makeup, wiped their faces, wore their crowns, had white throats, red cheeks, and long eyebrows" often lived an unrestrained romantic life in the name of practicing Taoism. Those who are indulgent and indulgent are almost as good as prostitutes. Ji Lan had a beautiful appearance and a refined expression. She was also good at playing the piano and calligraphy. She was especially famous for her quick poetry. Therefore, all the scribes at that time traveled with her, and romantic affairs were inevitable. Gao Zhongwu's "Zhongxing Jianqi Collection" once recorded such an anecdote:
(Ji Lan) and other sages gathered at Kaiyuan Temple in Wucheng. Liu Changqing in Hejian had a serious illness, which disappeared. : "The mountain atmosphere is getting better and better day by day." Changqing said to the sun, "All the birds are happy and have their support." Everyone laughed, and everyone commented on the beauty of both worlds.
"Yin-heavy disease" refers to illness. Generally, women will not talk about this kind of male disease, let alone make fun of others. Ji Lan openly teased Chang Qing about this topic, and Chang Qing actually responded with the same teasing words. This shows his wild and wild teasing and his unusual relationship with Chang Qing. However, they are different from the vulgar people in the streets. Even if they are joking and flirting, they still quote scriptures and recite poems without any text. These two sentences are used from Tao Yuanming's "Twenty Drinking Poems" (Part 5) and "Thirteen Poems for Reading the Classic of Mountains and Seas" (Part 1). Both sides use them very implicitly and skillfully, and they can indeed be called "elegant" "Joke", which indeed shows the extraordinary talents of the two people, so they will win "everyone laughs, and the critics are both beautiful".
Li Ye is the female crown prince, with a romantic nature, good at making elegant banter, good at playing the piano, and especially good at rhythm. He had close contacts with Liu Changqing, Lu Yu (Hongjian) and Shi Jiaoran, all famous poets in the poetry world at that time. He also had a close relationship with celebrities such as Zhu Fang, Han Kui, Yan Bojun, Xiao Shuzi, etc. She became a social celebrity for a while. In his later years, he was called into the palace. In 784 AD, because he had written a poem to rebel against General Zhu Jun, Emperor Dezong of the Tang Dynasty ordered him to be killed with random sticks. It's so sad that a generation of famous ladies ended up in such a tragic end.
Li Ye's poems are good at five-character poems, and they are often rewarded. Li Jilan's poetic talent should be the best among the female poets of the Tang Dynasty. She has a poem that explains the relationship between husband and wife in one sentence: "From near to far to east and west, from deep to shallow clear stream. From high to bright sun and moon, from close to distant husband and wife." There is also a poem "Lovesickness", which expresses the pain of lovesickness in the world: "Humanity The sea water is not even half as deep as the longing for lovesickness, but the sea water still has an end, and the longing for lovesickness is boundless. I carry my harp up to a tall building, the moon is full in the sky, and I play the music of lovesickness, and my strings are broken for a while. ”
Chen Zhensun from the Song Dynasty. "Zhizhai Shulu Jieti" contains one volume of "Li Jilan Collection", which has been lost and only sixteen poems remain. Liu Changqing admired Li Ye's poems very much and called her "a poet among women". Gao Zhongwu commented: "A scholar has a hundred virtues, but a woman has only four virtues. Ji Lan is not like that. Her shape is feminine, and her poetry is also wild. From Bao Zhao on down, there are few others like her." He also said that she is "Shangjiang Banji (Jieyu)" ) is not enough, but she is more than Han Ying (Lanying), not only late, but also a handsome woman."
Xue Tao, a romantic school girl
A female poet in the Tang Dynasty. Xue Tao is the one who has the most anecdotes and the one who has left the most relics.
The historical records of Xue Tao's life experience are fragmentary and brief, and the following simple conclusions can be drawn: Xue Tao, also known as Hongdu (also called Hongdu), was born in Chang'an (now Xi'an), and his father Xue Yun was a famous female poet in the Mid-Tang Dynasty. , together with Li Ye and Yu Xuanji, are the top three female heroes. As an outstanding representative of female poets, Xue Tao is good at singing, dancing, and poetry. She once created a small crimson paper to write poems, and was known as "Xue Tao Jian". The year of Xue Tao's birth and death is controversial in academic circles. Most opinions are that he was born in the fifth year of Dali (AD 770) and died in the sixth year of Dali (AD 832), at the age of 63.
Historical records: Xue Tao was beautiful and intelligent by nature. He was able to write poems at the age of eight, knew music and rhythm, and had many talents. When he was young, he settled in Chengdu with his father Xue Yun. He was a little older and had a good reputation. After his father died, he was in a state of turmoil. When he was sixteen years old, Wei Gao suppressed Shu and called him to compose poems and wine, so he entered the music library. Later, Yuan Zi, Liu Zhen, Gao Chongwen, Wu Yuanheng, Li Yijian, Wang Bo, Duan Wenchang, Du Yuanying, Guo Zhao, and Li Deyu successively suppressed Shu, and she all came in and out of the shogunate as a singer and Qing guest. Wei Gao once proposed to ask the imperial court to confer the official title of Secretary Provincial School Secretary. Although this was not realized due to the old practice, people often called it "female school secretary". This is the reason why later generations called kabuki "school book". Afterwards, she left her hometown and never married, settling in Huanhuaxi. In her later years, she dressed up as a female Taoist priest and spent the rest of her life in a quiet life. Xue Tao's deeds can be found in "Chronicles of Tang Poetry" and "Biography of Talented Scholars of the Tang Dynasty".
Xue Tao had singing contacts with famous poets Yuan Zhen, Bai Juyi, Zhang Ji, Wang Jian, Liu Yuxi, Du Mu, Zhang Hu and others at that time. With this list, you can know Xue Tao's importance in the literary world at that time. Wang Jianyou's poem "Sending Letters to Xue Tao in Sichuan" says: "The girls' school books are by the bridge thousands of miles away, and they live behind closed doors in the loquat flowers. A talented man who sweeps his eyebrows knows a lot, but he is not as good as managing the spring breeze." The evaluation is extremely high. Living on the Huanhua River, he made his own pink colored paper to write poems. Later generations imitated it and called it "Xue Tao Jian".
At the same time, there are also some works that are thoughtful and caring about reality. It is rare among ancient female poets. She once visited Songzhou, which is close to Tubo, and wrote the poem "I was sent to the border to be pregnant with Wei Linggong". The first poem said: "I heard that the border town is bitter, but now I have come to know it. I am ashamed to sing to Longtou. Son." I express my deep sympathy for the hard life of the soldiers defending the frontier. Yang Shen, a scholar and poet in the Ming Dynasty, said that this poem "is allegorical but not explicit, which is the beauty of the poet" ("Sheng'an Poetry Talk"). The "General Catalog of Sikuquanshu" also believes that her "Chibianlou" has "far-reaching meaning" and is "out of the reach of ordinary skirts". Xue Tao authored 5 volumes of "Jinjiang Collection", which is now lost. "Complete Poems of the Tang Dynasty" records one volume of his poems. Zhang Pengzhou, a recent scholar, has "Xue Tao's Poems and Notes".
Xue Tao's calligraphy is not feminine, but his calligraphy has the charm of Wang Xi and is highly regarded by people at the time, but it is a pity that it has not been passed down. In terms of talent and character, Xue Tao ranks first among the female poets of the Tang Dynasty. The people of Shu call Xue Tao, Zhuo Wenjun, Mrs. Huarui, and Huang E the "four most talented women in Shu".
After the collection, as many as 21 scholars wrote, "The seller insists that a thousand pieces of gold is not easy to exchange, so don't ask for the price." Today's people may be surprised - why is the Song version of "The Collection of Yu Xuanji" worth a thousand pieces of gold? Let’s start with Yu Xuanji’s life experience. The "Biography of the Talented Scholars of the Tang Dynasty: The Biography of Yu Xuanji" written by Xin Wenfang of the Yuan Dynasty said: "At that time, the girls in the palaces of the capital could only entertain themselves by chanting. Xuanji was outstanding and often greeted with greetings." This shows that the female Taoist priests in the capital are good at writing poems, Yu Xuanji Xuanji belongs to the flag-raising person in this group. Yu Xuanji may be the female poet who wrote the most poems in the Tang Dynasty. There are as many as fifty poems in "Complete Poems of the Tang Dynasty".
Yu Xuanji, whose courtesy name is Youwei and whose name is Cymbidium, is unknown about her birth and death years. Some people have verified that she was born in Hudu, Chang'an (now Xi'an) in the fourth year of Huichang (844) in the Tang Dynasty. Huangfu Mei of the Tang Dynasty recorded in "Sanshui Xiaoshu": "Xianyi Temple in Xijing, the female Taoist priest Yu Xuanji, whose character is Youwei, is the daughter of a family in Chang'an." Since the Tang Empire was an empire of poetry, it could be said that everyone could recite poetry and make poems. Poetry, so this girl from a commoner family also dreamed of being a poet. "Sanshui Xiaoshu" says that she "has a beauty that captivates the country, and is fascinated by her thoughts. She likes reading and writing, especially chanting." Yu Xuanji's poems often contain aphorisms, which are often novel. Some of her poems about women's mentality are bold, straightforward, lively and vivid, enough to make "ordinary people" tempted and "gentlemen" stunned. His deeds are not recorded in the official history, and the information is scattered in books such as Xin Wenfang's "Biography of Talents of the Tang Dynasty" in the Yuan Dynasty, Huangfu Mei's "Sanshui Xiaoshu" in the late Tang Dynasty, and Sun Guangxian's "Beimeng Suoyan" in the Song Dynasty.
Judging from the above-mentioned accounts and the poems left by Yu Xuanji, Yu Xuanji was well educated when he was young, but his family background was not high. When he was about ten years old, he met the famous poet Wen Tingyun and kept in touch with him for a long time. He responded with poems. According to "Tang Caizi Biography: Yu Xuanji Biography" and "Complete Tang Poems" Volume 840, Yu Youwei was arranged by Wen Tingyun when she was about 15 years old to marry Li Yi, an admonisher in Buque, as his concubine, and she fell in love very deeply. , once followed Li Yi to Jinshui, Shanxi (now southwest of Taiyuan City, Shanxi) and lived a free and peaceful life. Later, "the wife was jealous and could not be tolerated", and Li Yi's "love for her declined". In the autumn of the second year of Xiantong (861), the seventeen-year-old Yu Youwei decided to travel eastward to find relatives. However, she did not meet any relatives, so she entered Taoism at a young age. In the second year of his life, he returned to Chang'an and relied on friends to support him. In the seventh year of Xiantong (866), 22-year-old Yu Youwei officially became a monk in Xianyiguan, Chang'an, and changed her name to Yu Xuanji. Although Yu Xuanji has resentment towards Li Yi, he still has deep love for him. Among her poems, most of them were sent to Li Yi. Among them is a poem entitled "A Love Letter to Li Zian", which reflects the mutual dependence between her and Li Yi:
Drinking ice and eating tillers will lead to no success, and the Jin kettle is shut in a dream.
Qin Jing wants to share his sorrow with the fallen magpie, and Shun Qin will blame Feihong.
Beside the well, the tung leaves sing in the autumn rain, and under the window, the silver lamp dims the dawn breeze.
I asked where the letter was in the vastness, holding the pole against the blue sky of the river.
This is a poem about the wonderful time that Yu Xuanji and Li Yi traveled to Shanxi Huguan (now southeast of Changzhi, Shanxi) and Jinshui area. They have vague dreams and vivid memories. Li Yi resigned and returned to Beijing. Yu Xuanji remained infatuated with him and kept in touch with him frequently. In the ninth year of Xiantong (868), Yu Xuanji was twenty-four years old. Because he was jealous of his maid Luqiao for having an affair with Li Yi, he killed her with a stick and was arrested and imprisoned. He wrote "Prison Works". Wen Zhang of Jingzhao sentenced him to death. After Wen Tingyun and others ran around, he was rescued and released from prison, and his name was changed to Yu Youxian or Yu Youxuan. Therefore, some people thought that Yu Xuanji had been killed. However, there were still poems appearing after that, which showed that he was not dead. His subsequent deeds are unclear.
Yu Xuanji "is particularly skilled in rhyme and sentimentality" ("The Biography of Talented Scholars of the Tang Dynasty·Yu Xuanji Biography"). As a female Taoist priest, she calmly vents her lost feelings in singing.
Most of Yu Xuanji's poems are poems written in response to friends, and most of her friends are famous celebrities. In addition to her lifelong friend Wen Tingyun and her nominal husband Li Yi, there are also famous poets such as Li Yi. Xianyi Temple became a gathering place for the elegant and elegant. The female crowns in the Tang Dynasty were essentially no different from the singers. Yu Xuanji, who became a female Taoist priest, was really impressive in Chang'an.
Yu Xuanji's most famous poem is "It is easy to find priceless treasures, but it is rare to find a lover." Just like her person, she is straightforward, fierce and out of shape. She, Xue Tao, Liu Caichun, and Li Ye are called "the four great female poets of the Tang Dynasty" by those who do good things. He is the author of "One Volume of Yu Xuanji Poems".
A Song of Romance by Liu Caichun
Liu Caichun, whose birth and death dates are unknown (author's note: some historical records record that she was about 15 years younger than Xue Tao), was a female artist from Jiangnan during the Mid-Tang Dynasty. People from Huaidian (today's Huai'an and Huaiyin areas in Jiangsu Province), or Yuezhou (today's Shaoxing City in Zhejiang Province). She is good at joining the military drama and can sing.
Joining the Army play is originally a humorous comedy, and the actors are all men. Liu Caichun used a woman to play the role of joining the army, which was rare in the Tang Dynasty. At the same time, she broke the tradition of joining the army play with words. They make fun of the old form and add singing to the performance. It is said that her voice is melodious and moving, and her singing voice is so resounding that it lingers in the air. What's even more valuable is that Liu Caichun has a family of actors. Her husband Zhou Jichong, her husband's brother Zhou Jinan, and her daughter Zhou Dehua are all professional actors. Together they formed a family theater troupe that was very famous in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. , became a very influential female artist at that time, and was deeply appreciated by Yuan Zhen, the governor of Yuezhou and the observer of eastern Zhejiang (820-829), who said that she was "elegant in words and charming, and her manners were low-key and charming." , which shows that she was a very influential female artist at that time. Yuan Zhen's poem "Gift to Liu Caichun" said that she "selected words to be able to sing the song of looking forward to her husband". "Wangfu Song" is the "Lulu Song", six of which are recorded in "Complete Poems of the Tang Dynasty". "If you don't like the Qinhuai River, you will board a boat on the river. You will carry your son and husband there, and you will spend years and years." "Don't be a merchant's wife, and the golden hairpin is used as divination money. Looking towards the mouth of the Chaojiang River, I mistakenly recognize a few people in the boat." is one of the famous lines. .
Liu Caichun was a "popular pop singer" at that time and became popular all over the south of the Yangtze River. At that time, in the Wuyue area, as long as Liu Caichun's "Lulu Song" was played, "women and passers-by would burst into tears." The so-called "Joining the Army Opera" is a popular comic performance in the Tang Dynasty, which is somewhat similar to today's cross talk. At first, two people partnered, one person teased and teased the other person, just like one person is teasing and the other is complimenting in cross talk. It later developed into a multi-person show and actresses also joined. Liu Caichun sings particularly well. It is said that her "singing voice reaches the clouds".
It is not known whether "Lulu Song" is Liu Caichun's own creation or a cover of a folk song. Relevant information says that Liu Caichun sang as many as 120 "Luosu Songs", and what we have seen now are only six of the "Complete Poems of the Tang Dynasty". So strictly speaking, Liu Caichun is just a popular singer, and being included in the "Four Great Women Poets" is a bit of a make-up.