Li Qingzhao, Poetess

Quite likely the greatest female poet in Chinese history, Li Qingzhao might be deemed a Sappho of the East or the Emily Dickinson of China. Living during the Song Dynasty, Li Qingzhao came from an extraordinary family background and received the best possible education in imperial China. As a teenager, she already wrote better verses than most of the men who attained the jinshi degree in the civil service examination: the highest level of distinction. She then had the good fortune of a lovin...