李绅

李紳

Lǐ Shēn

proper noun

Meanings

1 Li Shen, Tang dynasty poet and chief minister

About Li Shen

772–846 · 诗人 poet

Tang official remembered above all for 悯农, two short poems on farmers' toil. Parents still quote its line 粒粒皆辛苦, every grain cost hard work, to children who leave rice in the bowl.

Also called 公垂、短李

Characters

gentry; sash of an official

Examples

HSK 4

孩子们从小就会背李绅的《悯农》。

Háizimen cóngxiǎo jiù huì bèi Lǐ Shēn de 《 Mǐnnóng 》.

Children learn Li Shen's 'Pity the Peasants' by heart from an early age.

HSK 7-9

李绅是唐朝的诗人，后来当了宰相。

Lǐ Shēn shì Tángcháo de shīrén, hòulái dāng le zǎixiàng.

Li Shen was a Tang poet who later became chief minister.

Tips

culture

The second poem of 《悯农》 opens 锄禾日当午, a farmer hoeing under the noon sun. The first ends angrier: 四海无闲田，农夫犹饿死, 'not a field lies idle anywhere, yet farmers still starve'.

history

With 元稹 and 白居易 he started the 'new yuefu' style of poems on the lives of ordinary people. Later stories paint him as a harsh and lavish official, a contrast with his poems that is often pointed out.

Stroke Order

李 lǐ

绅 shēn

李绅