Li Zhiyi was a literati of the Northern Song dynasty, best known for his ci poetry, and he styled himself Guxi Jushi. His exact birth and death years, native place, and official career are difficult to describe in detail because publicly available sources are limited. The surviving collection Guxi Ci, in one volume, is the main basis for understanding his literary profile. In subject matter, his ci mostly treat parting sorrow, the melancholy of travel, and reflections on daily life; he was skilled at using natural scenery to set off inner moods. His language is clear and graceful yet restrained, his emotions are expressed with genuine delicacy, and his work is relatively free of elaborate ornamentation. His short lyrics show particular skill, often unfolding layer upon layer of feeling within a brief compass and revealing depth in apparently plain passages, reflecting the common Northern Song approach of conveying emotion through scenery. Though Li Zhiyi's reputation in the history of ci is less prominent than that of the major poets of his time, the gentle style and lyrical technique displayed in Guxi Ci still offer a concrete example for studying the evolution of ci style in the middle and late Northern Song, and his works are occasionally mentioned in later anthologies and critical remarks on ci.
