The most interesting source I read for week 9 was “Li Qingzhao’s Life” which discussed the life of China’s greatest female poet. To start off I found it interesting how autobiographies were uncommon, it makes sense to some degree, where the people who were writing were not typically focusing on themselves but rather events around them, other people, or their families, but it was just an odd thought that never occurred to me prior to reading this. This source also talks about the conflict between the Song Dynasty and the Northern dynasties, though not as bluntly as a textbook would. This conflict between the dynasties are actually what causes Li Qingzhao to lose almost all of her wealth and different collections. As she is forced to leave place after place with her previous residents being destroyed, all the knowledge that she and her husband had spent their lives collecting suddenly vanish. 

One other odd detail crops up when discussing her second marriage, many people try to prove that she was never actually married the second time. Due to her beautiful poetry, many people believe that since she was a “high-minded person” (pg. 216) there was no way that she could have remarried due to neo-Confucianist views. Despite there being documented evidence of her second marriage some people refuse to believe it simply because it does not fit their ideals, and even still this trend carries on. 

As I was writing this my brain decided to stop working as well as it had before so if nearing the end it sounds a little redundant that’s why! I feel like I am quite close to actually being done with everything so I’m very excited!