“Dream Song” by Li Ch'ing-chao.!
Li Ch’ing Chao (also known as Li Cingzhao or Li Qingzhao) was a cultured Chinese writer of noble birth who lived at the time of the Song dynasty, a period in history that lasted from the 10th to the late 13th centuries.
She was a poet and most of her work was written in the ci form and it is believed that around one hundred of her poems still exist. A few others were written in shi form, the most significant one being a long piece, describing her life, called Afterword.
It should be noted that only those collected writings (wen-chi) used extensively are listed below.
Unusually for a woman of noble origin she was intelligent and outgoing. Not only did she write poems but she could also devise technical studies of the art, a good example being a detailed critique of the metrics of Chinese poetry.
She was considered to be “the master of wanyue pai” which translates as “the delicate restraint”.
The details of her life are sketchy but it was believed that she was born in the year in Zhangqui, which in modern times is known as the Shandong province.
Her family were “scholar-