CRITICISM

Chang, Kang-i Sun. The Evolution of Chinese Tz'u Poetry: From Late T'ang to Northern Sung, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1980, 251 p.

Detailed analysis of tzu poetry, explaining the development of the art favored by Li Ch'ing-chao. Contains only scattered references to Li Ch'ing-chao, but provides important background for understanding her poetry.

Owen, Stephen. “The Sources of Meaning.” In Remembrances: The Experience of the Past in Classical Chinese Literature, pp. 80-98. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1986.

Focuses on Li Ch'ing-chao's poem “Afterward to Records on Metal and Stone,” suggesting that her account is filled with memories of happy times in her married life, as well as bitterness toward her husband's materialism.