Origins & Early Life

Li He (李賀; c. 790–791 – c. 816–817) was a Chinese poet of the mid-Tang dynasty. His courtesy name was Changji, and he is also known as Guicai and Shigui.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

He was prevented from taking the imperial examination due to a naming taboo. He died very young, and was noted for his sickly appearance. He was a diligent poet, going out on journeys during the day and, when a line of poetry came to him, jotting it down, and completing the poems when he arrived home in the evening. His poems famously explored ghostly, supernatural and fantastic themes. His popularity and place in the Chinese literary canon has fluctuated throughout the centuries.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

His idiosyncratic style of poetry was frequently imitated in China until the Qing dynasty. During this era, the popularity of his poetry suffered from a change in literary tastes, with his works notably being excluded from the influential Three Hundred Tang Poems, but there was a revival of interest in him in the twentieth century. He was among the Tang poets most admired by Mao Zedong. Chapter 137 of the Old Book of Tang and chapter 203 of the New Book of Tang each give a brief outline of the biography of Li He. Li Shangyin, a poet of the following...

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