Li Sao

Li Sao

Two pages from "Li sao" from a 1645 illustrated copy of the Chuci, showing the poem "Li Sao", with its name being enhanced by the addition of the character (jing), which is usually only so used in the case of referring to one of the Chinese classics.
Author	(trad.) Qu Yuan
Published	c. 3rd century BCE

Li Sao
"Li Sao" in seal script (top), Traditional (middle), and Simplified (bottom) Chinese characters
Traditional Chinese	離騷
Simplified Chinese	离骚
Literal meaning	Encountering Sorrow
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Lí sāo Gwoyeu Romatzyh Li-sau Wade–Giles Li2-sao1 IPA [lǐ sáu] Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Lèih-sōu Jyutping Lei4-sou1 Southern Min Tâi-lô Lī-so Middle Chinese Middle Chinese Lje-saw Old Chinese Baxter-Sagart *[r]aj [s]ˤu

"Li Sao" (Chinese: 離騷; literally: "Encountering Sorrow") is a Chinese poem dating from the Warring States period of ancient China. The early poetic tradition of China survives mainly through two anthologies, one being the Chuci, the other being the formally distinct Classic of Poetry (or Shijing). The poem "Li Sao" is the lead poem and the main inspiration for the Chuci collection. This famous piece was written by the person generally known as Qu Yuan, an aristocrat of the Kingdom of Chu. In his signature poem "Li Sao", Qu Yuan manifests himself in a poetic character, which is a major landmark in the tradition of Classical Chinese poetry, contrasting with the anonymous poetic voices encountered in the Shijing and the other early poems which exist as preserved in the form of incidental incorporations into various documents of ancient miscellany. The rest of the Chuci anthology is centered on the "Li Sao", the purported biography of its author Qu Yuan, and often its innovative epic poetic lines. In the "Li Sao", the poet despairs that he has been plotted against by evil factions at court with his resulting rejection by his lord and then recounts a series of shamanistic spirit journeys to various mythological realms, engaging or attempting to engage with a variety of divine or spiritual beings, with the theme of the righteous minister unfairly rejected sometimes becoming exaggerated in the long history of later literary criticism and allegorical interpretation. Dating from the time of King Huai of Chu, in the late third century BCE, the poem "Li Sao" is a remarkable example of Chinese poetry.

The "Li Sao" begins with the poet's introduction of himself, his ancestry, and some references to his current situation, and then proceeds to recount the poet's fantastical physical and spiritual trip across the landscapes of ancient China, real and mythological. "Li Sao" is a seminal work in the large Chinese tradition of landscape and travel literature. "Li Sao" is also a political allegory in which the poet laments that his own righteousness, purity, and honor are unappreciated and go unused in a corrupt world. The poet alludes to being slandered by enemies and being rejected by the king he served (King Huai of Chu).