Reasons for Ignorance of LI Shangyin Study in Song, Yuan and Ming Dynasties

LI Shangyin was one of the greatest poets with artistic creativity in the history of Chinese poetry. However, LI and his works were unduly ignored for a long time. From his death to the end of Ming Dynasty, ranging 800 years, there was not even a research masterpiece for him. Shadowed by the study momentum about LU Fu and HAN Yv, the study on LI and his works was evidently left behind by Tang poetry study. At the same stage, the criticism about LI poetry and personality tended to belittle even negate. The reason why LI study was ignored in Song, Yuan and Ming Dynasties is as follows: 1. The excessive ignorance and dispersal about LI and his poetry in Song, Yuan and Ming Dynasties were closely associated with the ideological and cultural background of prevalent rationalistic Confucian, which advocated Respect heavenly principle, restrain human desire; 2. Too much allusion and mist in LI poetry actually caused the difficulty in understanding and appreciating it; 3. It was also connected with the concept of poetry critics in Song, Yuan and Ming Dynasties, who over praised the heyday of Tang Dynasty but ignored its middle and late.