On the Buddhistic Cultural Meaning of LI Yu's Poetry

This paper attempts to discuss the Buddhistic cultural meaning of the poetry of Li Yu, latest king of Nan Tang, with the focus on three themes: the feeling of vanity, the experience of grief,and the Buddhist state of chilly loneliness. It is argued in this paper that the vanity and grief represented in LI Yu's poetry is, on one hand, his real experience of life and a faithful reflection of his later life, and, on the other hand, the result of influence from Buddhist “vanity” and “grief”. And the creation of the Buddhistic state of chilly loneliness is not only and indication of his sublime artistic interest but also is closely related to Buddhist aesthetics.