Elegant Song Ci Poets
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Summary
The prose of the Song: graceful or bold, its resonance long enduring. The ci poets of the Song: tempered by vicissitude, shining like stars.
How many poets rose and fell in office, only to end up nestled among rouge and jade, trading fleeting fame for a shallow cup and soft song? And how many spent their lives as commoners, spurning wealth and rank, yet left behind the fragrance of ink and a name in history?
The beauty of the Song was spare and restrained, inward and inclusive. Its romance was the romance of the age: burning incense and whisking tea, drinking wine and arranging flowers; wielding brush and ink, carrying a sword to the ends of the earth; sitting to pour clear water, watching the bitter dust steep; meeting beneath the moon at the willow's tip after dusk; trading fleeting fame for a shallow cup and soft song; and turning back toward the bleak and dreary place—returning home, where there is neither wind nor rain nor shine.
This book is more than an appreciation of ci poetry. It portrays the lives, official careers, and emotional journeys of the Song ci poets, blending biography with close reading of their verse in luminous, distilled language that fuses history and literature. Through the poems it traces the twists and turns of each poet's life, and through those lives it illuminates the stories behind each celebrated work. Familiar names, classic poems, and winding paths together mirror the vast sweep of Song dynasty history.
Editor's review
Readers should note its positioning: this is a literary, lyrical "impression portrait" of poets rather than an academic work. It does not aim at rigorous textual scholarship or deep literary criticism but creates an immersive aesthetic experience, guiding readers through the interweaving of verse and story to feel the emotional core of Song ci and the beauty of classical imagery. For newcomers to Song ci, it is an inviting window that dispels the distance of classical literature; for seasoned enthusiasts, it offers a personal, empathetic reading that, while not necessarily novel, is sufficiently moving. The literary treatment and lyrical rendering of historical detail may be seen as the author's way of building her aesthetic world rather than as factual statement. Overall, this is a book to be read slowly in quiet moments, to nourish the mind and spirit—its value lies in moving the heart and delighting the senses.
Who it's for
A good fit for
- Readers who hold a romantic imagination of Song ci and the lives of Song literati and seek emotional resonance
- Loyal readers who admire Bai Luomei's clear, graceful prose and its classical atmosphere
- Beginners who wish to encounter the lives and representative works of Song ci poets in a relaxed,感性 way
- Literature lovers seeking spiritual calm and aesthetic pleasure in reading
Not a good fit for
- Research-oriented readers seeking rigorous ci analysis, historical verification, or scholarly interpretation
- Readers uncomfortable with a highly personal, lyrical approach to historical figures
Reading tips
- Read it as a series of literary essays rather than a biography, and focus on the atmosphere and emotion the prose creates
- Read alongside the original ci poems mentioned in the book to appreciate the interplay between the author's interpretation and your own responses
- There is no need to finish it in one sitting; dip into chapters on poets who interest you in spare moments
About the publisher
Hunan Literature and Art Publishing House is a publisher known for its literary titles, with a catalogue spanning foreign literature, world classics, classical Chinese literature, essays and miscellaneous writings, and mystery and detective fiction. Judging from the more than 1,100 books in the database, the press publishes foreign classics such as Crime and Punishment, Snow Country, The Complete Sherlock Holmes and Letter from an Unknown Woman, as well as Chinese classical and modern literary works including Lu Xun's Wandering and A Madman's Diary and Wu Jingzi's The Scholars. In terms of translators and authors, translations by Cao Guowei and Tan Jinghua appear in its foreign literature titles, and the authors involved include Dostoevsky, Kawabata Yasunari, Conan Doyle and Zweig. Its publishing character lies in introducing Chinese and foreign literary classics side by side, balancing popular and serious works and attending to both readability and literary value. Public information is limited; the above is a brief overview based solely on the books in the database.
Contents
- 版权信息
- 序言 忍把浮名，换了浅斟低唱
- 卷一 忍把浮名，换了浅斟低唱
- 柳永 混迹风月，忍把浮名，换了浅斟低唱
- 林逋 一生不仕，梅妻鹤子，终老孤山
- 范仲淹 先天下之忧而忧，后天下之乐而乐
- 张先 安享富贵，取乐青楼，一生风流自赏
- 卷二 人生如逆旅，我亦是行人
- 晏殊 一生富贵，宰相词人，走过宋朝繁华的时光
- 宋祁 一掷千金，及时行乐，世称红杏尚书
- 欧阳修 曾是洛阳花下客
- 苏轼 人生如逆旅，我亦是行人
- 晏幾道 落花人独立，微雨燕双飞
- 卷三 桃李春风一杯酒，江湖夜雨十年灯
- 黄庭坚 桃李春风一杯酒，江湖夜雨十年灯
- 秦观 一代婉约词宗，留名千古，也寂寞千年
- 贺铸 一川烟草，满城风絮，梅子黄时雨
- 周邦彦 家住吴门，久作京华倦客，情迷李师师
- 卷四 蓦然回首，那人却在，灯火阑珊处
- 宋徽宗 谁同我，江山与共，情深意浓
- 李清照 千古才女，前半生赌书泼茶，后半生流转天涯
- 朱淑真 断肠词女，才情堪比李清照
- 陆游 他是人间放翁，更是沈园的一名过客
- 辛弃疾 了却君王天下事，赢得生前身后名
- 卷五 流光容易把人抛，红了樱桃，绿了芭蕉
- 姜夔 北宋艺术全才，一生转徙江湖，布衣终老
- 吴文英 一生未第，游幕终生，唯留一卷《梦窗词》
- 蒋捷 流光容易把人抛，红了樱桃，绿了芭蕉
- 张炎 宋朝最后一位词人，曾是华贵少年，后为江湖荡子
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About the author
Bai Luomei, whose real name is Xu Zhihui, is a contemporary Chinese essayist and biographer from Nancheng, Fuzhou, Jiangxi Province. More than forty of her essays have been broadcast on CCTV-3's Television Poetry and Prose, and readers praise her writing as having "the character of falling plum blossoms and the elegance of autumn water." She is known for a "aesthetic biography" style, with representative works including Lin Huiyin: If You Are Well, It Is a Sunny Day; Because We Understand, We Are Compassionate; and a biography of Nalan Rongruo through his ci poetry. The library holds forty-two of her works, spanning biography, literary appreciation, essays and miscellaneous writings, social sciences, and modern poetry. Public information about her life and education is limited, so this introduction focuses on the themes and style of her works.
