夏日绝句
Summer Quatrain
Original
生当作人杰，
死亦为鬼雄。
至今思项羽，
不肯过江东。
Translation
To live, be a hero among men;
To die, be a soul among ghosts;
Even now, we honor Xiang Yu,
Who refused to cross the East River.
Line by Line Analysis
About This Poem
This concise yet thunderous quatrain was penned by Li Qingzhao after the 1127 fall of the Northern Song Dynasty, when Jurchen invaders sacked the capital and the court fled south to establish the Southern Song. The poem contrasts the unflinching honor of Xiang Yu, a legendary warlord who chose death over fleeing across the East River to avoid humiliation, with the cowardice of Southern Song rulers, who prioritized appeasement over resisting invaders. Li infuses each line with righteous indignation and profound patriotism, using Xiang Yu’s legacy to condemn the court’s lack of backbone. Its stark, resonant imagery distills national grief and anger into four short lines, creating an enduring tribute to heroic spirit.
About the Poet
李清照
Lǐ Qīngzhào
Li Qingzhao (1084–1155) was one of the most revered female poets in ancient Chinese literature, active during the Song Dynasty. Renowned for her versatile style, she shifted from crafting delicate, intimate verses about love and daily life in her youth to producing fierce, patriotic works in her later years. Her writings blend elegant imagery with raw emotional depth, earning her a permanent place as a trailblazer for women in Chinese literary history, whose insights into sentiment and national crisis remain timeless.
Cultural & Historical Context
1. Historical Background: In 1127, the Jurchen-led Jin Dynasty conquered the Northern Song capital Kaifeng, seizing the emperor and forcing the court to flee south. The Southern Song regime adopted a passive appeasement policy, avoiding military confrontation with invaders. 2. Cultural Background: Xiang Yu was an iconic symbol of unyielding honor in Chinese culture; his choice to die rather than flee became a timeless example of noble integrity in folklore and literature. 3. Social Background: Southern Song society was divided, with ordinary people enduring displacement and war while the ruling elite prioritized comfort over defending the nation, sparking widespread public discontent. 4. Personal Experience: Li lost her husband, scholar Zhao Mingcheng, in 1129; her cherished collection of books and artworks was destroyed during her forced migration, leaving her in poverty and isolation, her personal grief intertwined with national outrage. 5. Creative Purpose & Artistic Features: Li wrote this poem to condemn the court’s cowardice and uphold the virtue of patriotic resistance. It uses historical allusion to critique contemporary politics, contrasting Xiang Yu’s heroism with rulers’ spinelessness. Its concise, bold language departs from her earlier lyrical style, blending moral clarity with emotional intensity to create one of her most impactful patriotic works.