Chapter 5 - Li Qingzhao’s Rhapsody on Capture the Horse

Summary

IMPERIAL CHINA'S MOST celebrated woman poet, Li Qingzhao 李清照 (1084–1150s), left one fu that we have today. It is likely that she wrote several pieces in this genre, but since her literary collection was lost, all we have of her writings are those that happened to be quoted in some early source. The rhapsody on the board game Capture the Horse is the one surviving work of hers in this genre

This was not the only piece of writing that Li Qingzhao composed about this board game. She wrote several other pieces in different forms. She tells us that she was “fixated” on this game and could play it all night without thought of food or sleep. The game was lost in China not long after Li Qingzhao's time. We cannot reconstruct it in any detail, but it is clear that it involved two or more players and was conceived as a “battle” between rival armies. The armies’ warhorses were represented by the pieces on the game board, and winning consisted of capturing the opponent's horses, hence the game's name.

One might be surprised to learn that Li Qingzhao, a socially elite and learned lady, who also enjoyed acclaim for poetic talent even during her lifetime, spent leisure hours playing war games. A few points may be made by way of explanation. She characterizes the game as “an elegant pastime of the women's inner quarters” 閨中雅戲, so it must be that other women amused themselves playing it as well, not just Li Qingzhao. Second, this particular woman was intensely competitive. This aspect of her personality shows through in many aspects of her life and writings. Her “fixation” on this game, on which the players wagered money, is just one example. Third, in her writings about Capture the Horse, Li Qingzhao does not write solely about the board game. She also writes, on another level, about the vexed military and political circumstances of her day. Her dynasty, the Song, had just a few years before its 165-year rule over the Chinese empire was interrupted by foreign invasion.