Night Rain in Bashan: The Life of Li Shangyin

Though gifted with a soaring ambition, he spent his life unable to give voice to what lay in his heart.

This novel tells the story of the Late Tang poet Li Shangyin. Together, we savor the untitled poems of a man who cared deeply.

[Nalan's Perspective]

Shangyin,

Today, Emperor Kangxi asked me to compose his New Year's greeting for the end of the year. As I wrote, "May all things be in harmony with Heaven, may the new era shine with dignity; mighty in letters and arms, may our reputation be pure," I thought of you, of the distant dynasty that had long passed from the world I live in, of the Tang, and of you, who should have shone so brilliantly.

While you served in office, you wrote memorials on behalf of many high officials and their staff. You obeyed your superiors' commands, and I obey Emperor Kangxi's. We were the same.

The same in that we were both drawn into politics as teenagers: you were swept up in the Niu-Li factional strife and ultimately lost your place in officialdom; I was caught in the Ming-Suo factional strife, and in the end Emperor Kangxi could no longer tolerate me, using me as a warning to Mingzhu. The same in that we both made flowers our final subject: your last poem was about lotus flowers, while my final ci poem was about the night-blooming cereus. The same in that when we no longer wished to live, we fought desperately to keep living, and after losing the ones we loved, our longing never ceased.

Our longing never ceased, yet fortunately we both had someone to lean on. You and the songstress Zhang Yixian were neither quite together nor quite apart; the famed courtesan Shen Wan and I understood and supported each other, treasuring one another for a lifetime.

You, at times so composed and austere, at others romantic, taking up your brush to write untitled poems.

No one can understand what is in my heart, Nalan's, but I alone can understand what is in yours, Li Yishan's.

Did you know I pay tribute to you in my ci poems, constantly borrowing and reworking your allusions? Did you know that a benefactor's kindness is often fleeting, and the bond between confidants often lonely? What we hope and yearn for, in the end, rarely comes to pass.

Did you know your poems are like withered lotus leaves left to the wind and rain, beautiful and delicate, yet elusive? Nalan's ci poems are like lamps burning in a thousand tents, each lit in solitude and sorrow: though the heart is mottled with age, everyone loves them.

If Yishan could know, on what day might he visit me in a dream?

Chengde waits beside the Lushui Pavilion, hoping to exchange greetings with Yishan. No matter how many years it takes, I am willing to spend my thoughts on you.

Nalan Chengde

Spring, the twenty-fourth year of Kangxi

[Reader's Note]

1. The novel opens with "Nalan Rongruo's Death" in a flashback prologue, "Nalan Burns His Poems to Honor Yishan, Then Walks Alone Beneath the Night-Blooming Cereus and Returns to the Azure Heavens." It lays out Li Shangyin's achievements, regrets, and allure as seen through Nalan's eyes. This is a newly created scene, not a letter from the promotional blurb.

2. The main story then formally recounts Li Shangyin's life.

After entering the Tang dynasty, Li Shangyin makes his debut, the Niu-Li factional strife unfolds, and Shangyin's reputation suddenly changes.

Thankfully, the people connected to Shangyin appear one after another: the songstress Zhang Yixian, who truly loves him and often helps him in secret; Linghu Tao, also known as Bālang, who truly loves him yet insists on competing with him; the great talent Wen Tingyun, also known as Feiqing, who truly loves him but fears his plain looks will frighten Shangyin; and Du Mu, also known as Muzhi, who truly loves him but mistakes the poems Shangyin sends him for an attempt to curry favor.

3. Finally, the story returns to the opening, breaks through the puzzle of Nalan's ci poems and his inescapable fate, and reveals with everyone the cause and answer to the mystery of why Li Shangyin's poems are so often untitled and the thoughts in his heart so hard to share.

4. A long historical drama with mystery and suspense, set in a purely classical world.

5. Manuscript in progress, archived and registered.

6. Once the story begins, a new chapter will be posted every day at noon. Dear readers, please add it to your collection.

Theme: Shangyin's life: so many untitled poems, so much he could never bring himself to say.