Nan Gongbo. Li Qingzhao. Chapter Х / Translation from Chinese, Introductory Article and Commentaries by H. Dashchenko

The publication continues the Ukrainian translation of the historical novel “Li Qingzhao” (“李清照”) written by the Hong Kong writer Nan Gongbo (南宮搏, 1924–1983). It presents Chapter Х (episodes 119–132), which was originally published from August 29 to September 13, 1960 in the Central Daily News (中央日報), the dominant newspaper in Taiwan in that time. The events depicted in this part of the novel took place in late 1129 – early 1130. The chapter is devoted to the meeting between the aristocratic poet Li Qingzhao and the famous courtesan from the “pleasure quarters” Li Shishi, which can be considered one of the key structural and semantic pivots of the novel. These two remarkable women of the Song dynasty are presented not only as literary characters but as symbols of Northern Song culture. Their meeting on a ship sailing along the Yangtze River is interpreted as a symbolic moment of intertwining socially and culturally different lives against the backdrop of grandiose historical catastrophes. In this chapter, Nan Gongbo uses two complete Song ci poems (by Qin Guan and Li Qingzhao), and lines from poems by Li Qingzhao, Liu Yong, and Bai Juyi as well. The introductory article highlights the role of poetic texts in the novel, which not only set the emotional tone of the chapter but also create an extensive system of intertextual connections, embedding the heroines’ experiences within the Chinese lyrical tradition. The poetic imagery resonates with the women’s psychological states and reflects their sense of losing home, stability, and former way of life. This meeting emerges as a literary reflection of the female fate amid the collapse of the state, and at the same time as an aesthetic testament to the continuity of tradition, that outlives its creators. The notes provide explanations of terms and cultural realities, as well as brief information about historical characters mentioned in the text.