The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
Li Shang-yin
(l´ shng´´-yn´) (KEY) , 813?858, Chinese poet. Of his 598 extant works, the best known are untitled love poems that describe in rich, sensuous detail scenes of beautiful courtesans languishing in ornate boudoirs. Li also wrote more conventional poemsverses to friends and family, political satires, depictions of particular objectsand parallel prose essays.