Song of Setting Out Wine cover

Song of Setting Out Wine

Rating 3.7
Word count
3.4K words
Chapters
49

Tags

Summary

The Complete Tang Poems, Volume 282, No. 11

Editor's review

Li Yi's "Setting Out Wine" appears in Volume 282 of The Complete Tang Poems and is a short piece titled after the act of setting out wine. Li Yi is known for his frontier and lyric poetry; this poem, judging by its title, centers on a drinking scene and is brief enough to serve as an entry point to his non-frontier verse. The value of such a work lies not in plot but in the interplay of tone and scene: how words, sights, and emotions at a banquet are compressed into a few lines. Because the text is short, a single reading may pass over it too quickly; it is best read line by line alongside annotations, with attention to where description shifts into feeling. Within the broader reading of Tang poetry, it offers an additional sample of Li Yi's work, showing another side of his subjects and providing a change of pace after his famous frontier poems.

Who it's for

A good fit for

  • Readers currently reading Li Yi's frontier poems who want to see his other subjects
  • Readers interested in short works from The Complete Tang Poems and fond of browsing at random
  • Students of Tang poetry who need short samples for close-reading practice

Not a good fit for

  • Readers hoping for a full-length narrative or detailed background story
  • Beginners who need extensive annotations, parsing, and line-by-line commentary

Reading tips

  1. Read once without annotations, note your first impression, then check each line against the annotations.
  2. After finishing, read it alongside Li Yi's famous frontier poems and compare subject and tone.
  3. Mark descriptive lines and lyric lines separately, and observe their placement and shifts within the poem.

About the publisher

Jinzhang Book Company (Jinzhang Shuju) China · Founded in 1901

Jinzhang Book Company (Jinzhang Shuju) was a private publishing and distribution house in Shanghai during the late Qing and early Republican periods, issuing traditional works by lithographic printing. Judging from the 1,194 titles in the collection, its publishing focused on classical poetry, Eastern philosophy, historical reading, traditional Chinese medical texts, and canonical works, along with books on literary appreciation. Representative titles include the poetry and prose collections of Du Fu and Ouyang Xiu; historical works such as the Book of Han and Zizhi Tongjian; classical texts such as the Book of Documents and Mencius; and specialized and literary classics such as Treatise on Cold Damage and Li Sao. Its author resources cover major figures across the ages, including Du Fu, Ban Gu, Sima Guang, Zhang Zhongjing, Qu Yuan, Ouyang Xiu, and Tang Shenwei, reflecting the house's characteristic reliance on traditional scholarship and medical literature while serving general readers. Public information on its early history and operational details is limited, so no conjecture is offered here.

Contents

  1. 版权信息
  2. 【渔具诗?沪(吴人今谓之簖)】陆龟蒙
  3. 卷620_11【渔具诗?qF(吴人今谓之丛)】陆龟蒙
  4. 卷620_12【渔具诗?种鱼】陆龟蒙
  5. 卷620_13【渔具诗?药鱼】陆龟蒙
  6. 卷620_14【渔具诗?舴艋】陆龟蒙
  7. 卷620_15【渔具诗?笭箵】陆龟蒙
  8. 卷620_16【奉和袭美添渔具五篇?渔庵】陆龟蒙
  9. 卷620_17【奉和袭美添渔具五篇?钓矶】陆龟蒙
  10. 卷620_18【奉和袭美添渔具五篇?蓑衣】陆龟蒙
  11. 卷620_19【奉和袭美添渔具五篇?箬笠】陆龟蒙
  12. 卷620_20【奉和袭美添渔具五篇?背蓬】陆龟蒙
  13. 卷620_21【樵人十咏?樵谿】陆龟蒙
  14. 卷620_22【樵人十咏?樵家】陆龟蒙
  15. 卷620_23【樵人十咏?樵叟】陆龟蒙
  16. 卷620_24【樵人十咏?樵子】陆龟蒙
  17. 卷620_25【樵人十咏?樵径】陆龟蒙
  18. 卷620_26【樵人十咏?樵斧】陆龟蒙
  19. 卷620_27【樵人十咏?樵担】陆龟蒙
  20. 卷620_28【樵人十咏?樵风】陆龟蒙
  21. 卷620_29【樵人十咏?樵火】陆龟蒙
  22. 卷620_30【樵人十咏?樵歌】陆龟蒙
  23. 卷620_31【奉和袭美酒中十咏?酒星】陆龟蒙
  24. 卷620_32【奉和袭美酒中十咏?酒泉】陆龟蒙
  25. 卷620_33【奉和袭美酒中十咏?酒篘】陆龟蒙
  26. 卷620_34【奉和袭美酒中十咏?酒床】陆龟蒙
  27. 卷620_35【奉和袭美酒中十咏?酒垆】陆龟蒙
  28. 卷620_36【奉和袭美酒中十咏?酒楼】陆龟蒙
  29. 卷620_37【奉和袭美酒中十咏?酒旗】陆龟蒙
  30. 卷620_38【奉和袭美酒中十咏?酒尊】陆龟蒙
  31. 卷620_39【奉和袭美酒中十咏?酒城】陆龟蒙
  32. 卷620_40【奉和袭美酒中十咏?酒乡】陆龟蒙
  33. 卷620_41【添酒中六咏?酒池】陆龟蒙
  34. 卷620_42【添酒中六咏?酒龙】陆龟蒙
  35. 卷620_43【添酒中六咏?酒瓮】陆龟蒙
  36. 卷620_44【添酒中六咏?酒船】陆龟蒙
  37. 卷620_45【添酒中六咏?酒枪】陆龟蒙
  38. 卷620_46【添酒中六咏?酒杯】陆龟蒙
  39. 卷620_47【奉和袭美茶具十咏?茶坞】陆龟蒙
  40. 卷620_48【奉和袭美茶具十咏?茶人】陆龟蒙
  41. 卷620_49【奉和袭美茶具十咏?茶笋】陆龟蒙
  42. 卷620_50【奉和袭美茶具十咏?茶籝】陆龟蒙
  43. 卷620_51【奉和袭美茶具十咏?茶舍】陆龟蒙
  44. 卷620_52【奉和袭美茶具十咏?茶灶(《经》云茶灶无突)】陆龟蒙
  45. 卷620_53【奉和袭美茶具十咏?茶焙】陆龟蒙
  46. 卷620_54【奉和袭美茶具十咏?茶鼎】陆龟蒙
  47. 卷620_55【奉和袭美茶具十咏?茶瓯】陆龟蒙
  48. 卷620_56【奉和袭美茶具十咏?煮茶】陆龟蒙
  49. 卷六百二十一

FAQ

Which category of Li Yi's subjects does this poem belong to?
The source only states that it comes from Volume 282 of The Complete Tang Poems and gives no subject classification. Judging by the title, it centers on setting out wine and differs from his famous frontier poems, so it can serve as supplementary reading for understanding other sides of Li Yi.
What background material should I consult while reading?
The source provides no information on composition background or dating. Reading can focus mainly on the text and annotations; background knowledge is not essential. For deeper study, consult the relevant volume of The Complete Tang Poems and annotated editions of Li Yi's collected poems.
Is such a short poem worth reading closely on its own?
Short poems are especially suited to close reading. Examine line by line how description and feeling connect, note where the tone turns, then read aloud to feel the rhythm. Close reading of a single piece reveals the craft of Tang poetic diction better than broad browsing.

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About the author

李益 Author

Li Yi is an author whose biographical information remains quite limited: his nationality, dates of birth and death, and English name are not clearly recorded in the available sources. Judging from the seven works held in the collection, his writing spans several fields. Alongside classical-flavored pieces such as "Southern Temple on Mount Hua," "Sent to Daoist Xu," "Passing by Zhang Bo's Place in the Rain on the Tenth Day of the Ninth Month," "Setting Out the Wine," and "Delighted to Enter Lanling and Gaze at Purple Pavilion Peak," he also addresses topics such as "A Human-Centered Logic of Urban Walking," which concerns the experience of cities and pedestrian movement. The works are commonly classified under ancient poetry, Eastern philosophy, architecture, and culture, suggesting a broad interest in traditional verse, philosophical reflection, and architectural and urban space. His writing tends to center on landscapes, visits with friends, banquets, and travel, with a restrained and elegant style that balances classical imagery with observation of the real world. Although his specific experiences are difficult to verify, these works still offer readers clues to his areas of concern.

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