李商隐的一生行迹（813-858）
李商隐（约813-858），字义山，号玉溪生、樊南生，怀州河内（今河南沁阳）人，晚唐最杰出的诗人之一。开成二年（837年）进士，因娶王茂元之女而卷入牛李党争，一生沉沦幕府。其诗深情绵邈、瑰丽精工，《锦瑟》《无题》诸作千古传诵，与杜牧并称"小李杜"。
怀州河内（813） · 怀州少年
唐宪宗元和八年（813年），李商隐出生于怀州河内（今河南沁阳），字义山。其父李嗣时任获嘉县令，李商隐三岁随父宦游浙江，十岁丧父，家道中落，少年即饱尝孤苦。
郑州（824） · 怀州少年
唐穆宗长庆四年（824年），十二岁的李商隐护送父亲灵柩北归，奉母定居郑州（今河南郑州）。"四海无可归之地，九族无可倚之亲"，他以抄书舂米维持家计，在困顿中发愤苦读。
郓州（829） · 令狐门下
唐文宗大和三年（829年），十七岁的李商隐以文才受知于天平军节度使令狐楚，被辟为巡官，随赴郓州（今山东东平）幕府。令狐楚亲授骈文今体，待之如子，李商隐的命运从此与令狐家紧紧相连。
长安（及第）（837） · 令狐门下
唐文宗开成二年（837年），二十五岁的李商隐第六次应试，终于进士及第，多赖令狐绹在礼部侍郎高锴面前延誉。同年令狐楚卒于山南西道任上，李商隐亲护其丧还京。
泾州（838） · 党争夹缝
唐文宗开成三年（838年），李商隐入泾原节度使王茂元幕，娶其女王氏为妻。因令狐属牛党、王茂元被视为李党，此举被令狐绹斥为背恩，李商隐从此蒙受忘恩负义之讥，终身难以自明。
弘农（839） · 党争夹缝
唐文宗开成四年（839年），李商隐通过吏部诠选，授秘书省校书郎，旋调补弘农尉（今河南灵宝）。县尉之职卑微烦杂，他因宽恤狱囚触怒观察使孙简，愤而辞官，挂冠而去。
桂州（847） · 远幕漂泊
唐宣宗大中元年（847年），桂管观察使郑亚辟李商隐为掌书记，他携家南赴桂州（今广西桂林）。五月，久雨初晴，他登楼远眺，写下"天意怜幽草，人间重晚晴"的千古名句。
徐州（850） · 远幕漂泊
唐宣宗大中四年（850年），武宁军节度使卢弘止辟李商隐为节度判官，他赴徐州（今江苏徐州）幕府。卢弘止敬重其才，礼待优渥，这是李商隐在党争夹缝中难得的一段安稳时光。
梓州（851） · 远幕漂泊
唐宣宗大中五年（851年）秋，妻丧未久，东川节度使柳仲郢辟李商隐为节度书记，他抛下幼子，只身远赴梓州（今四川三台）。巴山夜雨中，他写下寄内（一说寄友）的千古绝唱。
成都（855） · 远幕漂泊
唐宣宗大中九年（855年），李商隐在梓州幕中奉命赴西川（今四川成都）推狱。途经成都，他追慕杜甫流寓蜀中的遗迹，模拟杜诗风格写下赠别同僚的名篇。
长安（归京）（856） · 锦瑟华年
唐宣宗大中十年（856年），李商隐随柳仲郢奉调回京，任盐铁推官。暮年的他常独登长安城南的乐游原，望帝京残阳，叹盛世不再，身世之悲与家国之痛涌上心头。
郑州（长逝）（858） · 锦瑟华年
唐宣宗大中十二年（858年）暮秋，李商隐在郑州家中溘然长逝，享年约四十六岁。临终前他吟咏不辍，那篇千古之谜的《锦瑟》，相传即为他的绝笔之作。
The Life Journey of Li Shangyin, the Poet of the Ornamented Zither
Li Shangyin (c. 813-858), styled Yishan, orphaned in Huaizhou, was trained in parallel prose by Linghu Chu, made jinshi in 837 — and destroyed by a marriage: the daughter of Wang Maoyuan put him between the Niu and Li factions, trusted by neither. The 'Untitled' poems, 'Night Rain, a Note North,' and the 'Ornamented Zither' — his own epitaph and China's most beautiful riddle.
Timeline of the Journey
- 813 · 怀州 — Born in Huaine, father a county magistrate; at three to Zhejiang, at ten an orphan — 'no ground in all the seas to return to, no kin in all the clan to lean on.' Copying books to feed the family.
- 824 · 郑州 — The coffin home to Zhengzhou; the boy of twelve already writing of a small pine that would not grow straight for anyone.
- 829 · 郓州 — Taken up at seventeen by the chancellor Linghu Chu — staff post in Yunchow, the master's own hand teaching him the court prose-style: a father in all but name.
- 837 · 长安 — Jinshi at last at twenty-five, through Linghu Tao's word — then Linghu Chu died in Hanzhong, and the door behind him closed.
- 838 · 泾州 — Into Wang Maoyuan's staff at Jingzhou, marriage to his daughter: the Niu faction read betrayal into it. 'The City Tower of Anding' — ambition answering slander.
- 839 · 弘农 — Collator, then defense officer of Hongnong; he pardoned a prisoner and offended his superior — 'sick of the tiny seal, about to seek the five lakes.'
- 847 · 桂州 — South with Zheng Ya to Guizhou (Guilin): after the rain, 'Heaven pities the hidden grass; among men, the late clear light' — the one gift his luck allowed.
- 850 · 徐州 — Judicial officer under Lu Hongzhi at Xuzhou — the rare master who honored him; 'the poem for my proud boy' written in that brief warmth.
- 851 · 梓州 — Wife dead, he went alone to Liu Zhongying's staff at Zizhou: 'Why should we trim the candle by the west window till we speak of this night in Ba-shan's rain?'
- 855 · 成都 — On judicial rounds to Chengdu, walking where Du Fu had walked, and writing in Du Fu's manner — the two sorrows touching hands.
- 856 · 长安 — Back as salt-and-iron commissioner's aide; evenings on Leyou Plateau: 'the sunset is infinite beauty — only, it is near dusk.'
- 858 · 郑州 — Died at about forty-six in Zhengzhou, the 'Ornamented Zither' by tradition his last poem: 'this feeling might have become a memory — only, even then it was already dim.'
'The zither, why its fifty strings? Each string, each fret, recalls the flowering years.' No poet ever packed more feeling into less statement — twelve hundred years of readers, and the pearl still in the mist.
