Li Yu (Southern Tang)
Li Yu, before 961 known as Li Congjia, also known as Li Houzhu, was the third ruler of the Southern Tang state during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. He reigned from 961 until 976, when his state was conquered by the Song dynasty">Song Dynasty">Song dynasty. Taken captive to the Song capital Bianjing, Li Yu was given the title Marquis of Disobedience, reflecting Taizong of Song">Emperor Taizong of Song">Taizong of Song’s resentment over Li’s delayed surrender. In 978 he was executed by poisoning on the orders of Taizong.
Li Yu is generally regarded as an ineffective ruler but an accomplished artist, especially renowned for his ci poetry. His early lyrics depict courtly pleasures and romantic love, while his later poems express profound grief over the loss of his kingdom.
Family
Parents- Father: Li Jing
- Mother: Empress Guangmu of the Zhong clan
- Empress Zhaohui, of the Zhou clan, personal name Ehuang
- *Li Zhongyu, Duke Qingyuan, 1st son
- *Li Zhongxuan, Prince Huaixian, 2nd son
- Empress Zhou the younger, of the Zhou clan, sister of Empress Zhaohui
- Baoyi, of the Huang clan
- Gongren, of the Bao clan
- Gongren, of the Zang clan
Early life
In the same Chinese year Li Congjia was born, his grandfather Xu Zhigao, also known as Xu Gao (Li Bian) founded the state Qi, renaming it Tang 2 years later. When Li Congjia was 6, his father Li Jing became the next Southern Tang emperor. With Li Jing naming his younger brother Li Jingsui his heir apparent, his sixth eldest son Li Congjia seemed unlikely to ever succeed the throne. However, many of Li Congjia's brothers died very young, and after the death of the second eldest brother Li Hongmao in 951, Li Congjia all of a sudden found himself right behind Li Hongji — the eldest brother — and uncle Li Jingsui in the succession line.Li Hongji, a withdrawn and troubled young man, resented his crown prince uncle, whom he saw as a political enemy standing in his way. He also disliked his younger brother Li Congjia, even though they shared the same biological mother, Empress Zhong. Fearing the possible results of this family enmity, Li Congjia tried hard to be inconspicuous and focused on the arts, including poetry, painting and music. He loved reading, a passion encouraged by his father, also an acclaimed poet. At the age of 17, Li Congjia married Zhou Ehuang, chancellor Zhou Zong's daughter and a year his senior. Lady Zhou was not only highly educated but also multi-talented in music and the arts and the young couple enjoyed a very intimate relationship.
Accession to the throne
In 955, a year after Li Congjia's marriage, Southern Tang was invaded by Later Zhou. The resistance war did not end until spring 958, after Li Jing ceded all prefectures north of the Yangtze River to his powerful northern neighbor. Li Jing also relinquished all imperial trappings, degrading his own title from emperor to king. The national humiliation was soon followed by familial tragedy: later that year Li Hongji poisoned uncle Li Jingsui to death, which was followed by his own death a few months later, allegedly hastened by many encounters with Li Jingsui's vengeful ghost.Not long after Li Hongji's death in 959, Li Congjia was given the post of royal secretary so that he could familiarize himself of governmental affairs. However, despite being the king's eldest surviving son, a few ministers considered him too dissolute and weak for the crown prince position, including Zhong Mo, who pleaded to have Li Congjia's younger brother Li Congshan chosen instead. Li Jing found Zhong's suggestion offensive and demoted him.
Suffering from poor health, Li Jing decided to transfer all responsibilities to his successor. He named Li Congjia the crown prince in spring 961 to take over in the capital Jinling while he retired to the southern city of Hongzhou. A few months later he died, and Li Congjia officially succeeded the throne, not without a last-second effort by Li Congshan to challenge him. By then Zhong Mo had also died, so Li Congshan asked chancellor Xu You to bring Li Jing's last will to him. Xu refused and confided in Li Congjia of Li Congshan's intentions. Li Congjia — changing his name to Li Yu — did not punish his younger brother other than a slight demotion.
As Southern Tang ruler
Appeasing the Song Dynasty
A year before Li Yu ascended the throne, Southern Tang's nominal overlord Later Zhou had been replaced by the Song dynasty established by former Later Zhou general Zhao Kuangyin, who had earlier participated in several campaigns against Southern Tang. Knowing the limit of Southern Tang's military strength and trying hard to be subservient to the northern court, Li Yu immediately sent a high official Feng Yanlu with a letter — whose language was of extreme humility — to inform Song of his succession. Things got to a rocky start: during his accession to the throne Li Yu built a golden rooster, a symbol of imperial power, the news of which infuriated Zhao Kuangyin. In the end, the Southern Tang ambassador in the Song capital of Bianliang had to give the explanation that the golden rooster was actually a "weird bird" to satisfy the Song emperor.Such an embarrassing relationship would define Li's entire reign, as tribute payments, both regular and irregular, drained the Southern Tang treasury. Essentially Li was ready to fulfill Emperor Taizu of Song's every demand except go to Bianliang himself. In 963, Li Congshan who accompanied a tributary mission was held hostage in Bianliang and had to write letters on behalf of the Song emperor asking his elder brother also join him at the Song court. Li Yu, naturally, did not heed the request.
Successive deaths in the family
Li Yu remained close to his wife Zhou Ehuang — Queen Zhou — so close that he sometimes canceled government meetings to enjoy her performances. The absences continued until a censor spoke out against it.In around 964, the second of the couple's two sons, a three-year-old still called by his milk name Ruibao, died unexpectedly. Li would mourn his son by himself so as not to sadden his wife more than necessary, but Queen Zhou was completely devastated and quickly deteriorated in health. During her illness, Li attended her and did not disrobe for days. When the queen finally succumbed to illness, Li mourned so bitterly until "his bones stuck out and he could stand up only with the aid of a staff." In addition to several grieving poems, he chiseled the roughly 2000 characters of his "Dirge for the Zhaohui Queen Zhou" — "Zhaohui" being her posthumous name — to her headstone himself. Part of the dirge read :
There is speculation but no evidence that Li Yu engaged in a secret sexual relationship with the queen's younger sister, who was only around 14 at that time, before the queen died. A few months later, in late 965, disaster stroke again: Queen Dowager Zhong died after several months of attentive care-taking by Li. The subsequent mourning period delayed Li's marriage to the younger Lady Zhou until 968.
Deaths of Lin Renzhao and Pan You
After conquering Jingnan, the Hunan region and Later Shu, the Song Dynasty army set off to invade Southern Han in 971, Southern Tang's southwestern neighbor. Lin Renzhao, the Southern Tang military governor of Zhenhai Command centering in Wuchang, believed the opportunity golden to attack the Song cities around Yangzhou as the main Song army would be a long distance away and already severely fatigued. Li Yu immediately rejected Lin's request: "Stop the nonsense talks, destroying country!"What Li was perhaps unaware was a year before, the Song military had gotten hold of an important chart with detailed measurements of Yangtze River crossing points, provided by a Southern Tang defector named Fan Ruoshui. After the conquest of Southern Han, their next step was to eliminate Lin Renzhao. In 974, Emperor Taizu of Song got hold of a Lin portrait through agents working in Southern Tang, and Li Congshan, the hostage kept in Bianliang, was then made to believe that Lin's loyalty was with Song. When Li Yu was told of this, he without a thorough investigation secretly poisoned Lin to death. Chancellor Chen Qiao angrily reacted to Lin's death: "Seeing loyal ministers killed, I don't know where I will die!"
During the same period, the scholar-official Pan You repeatedly submitted memorials criticizing the decline of Southern Tang governance and the complacency of those in power. His outspoken remonstrance angered Li Yu, who suspected, apparently without firm evidence, that Pan was acting at the instigation of another official, Li Ping. Li Ping was arrested, and Pan You, upon learning of the investigation and imprisonment, committed suicide.
Fall of Southern Tang
Li was an incompetent ruler who spent more time on literature and art, with little regard to the Song dynasty that was eyeing its weaker neighbor. In 971, Houzhu dropped the name of Tang from its Kingdom's name, in a desperate move to please the mighty Emperor Taizu of Song.Of the many other kingdoms surrounding the Southern Tang, only Wuyue to the east had yet to fall. The Southern Tang's turn came in 974, when, after several refusals to summons to the Song court, on the excuse of illness, Song dynasty armies invaded. After a year long siege of the Southern Tang capital, modern Nanjing, Li Houzhu surrendered in 975. He and his family were taken as captives to the Song capital at present-day Kaifeng. In a later poem, Li wrote about the shame and regret he had on the day he was taken away from Jinling :
Death
He was poisoned by the Song emperor Taizong in 978, after he had written a poem that, in a veiled manner, lamented the destruction of his empire and the rape of his second wife Empress Zhou the Younger by the Song emperor. After his death, he was posthumously created the Prince of Wu.Writing
Li was interested in cí poetry, which sometimes seems to characterize poetry of the Song Dynasty. However, he is not a Song poet: the Southern Tang is more a successor of Tang and precursor of the Song side that existed during the Tang-Song transition, also known as the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. Li Yu represents both a continuation of the Tang poetry tradition, as well as representing the cí poetic style associated with the poetry of Song.Li Houzhu devoted much of his time to pleasure-making and literature, and this is reflected in his early poems. A second phase of Li's cí poems seems to have been the development of an even sadder style after the death of his wife, in 964. His saddest, poems were composed during the years of his captivity, after he formally abdicated his reign to the Song, in 975. He was created the Marquess of Disobidience, a deliberately humiliating title for his prolonged resistance and delayed surrender. Though with the outward accoutrements of a prince, Li was a prisoner. Li's works from this period dwell on his regret for the lost kingdom.
He developed the ci by broadening its scope from love to history and philosophy, particularly in his later works. He also introduced the two stanza form, and made use of contrasts between longer lines of nine characters and shorter ones of three and five. Only 45 of his ci poems survive, thirty of which have been verified to be his authentic works, the other of which are possibly composed by other writers. Also, seventeen shi style poems remain to his credit.
''Cí'' poetry
The roughly 40 cí poems possibly written by Li Yu are summarized in the table below. The cí as a poetic form follows set patterns or tunes.A few poems have been set to music in modern times, most notably the three songs in Teresa Teng's 1983 album Light Exquisite Feelings. Some of the songs are mentioned below.
| Tune | First line | Notes |
| Cǎi Sāng Zǐ | Lù Lú Jīn Jǐng Wú Tóng Wǎn | |
| Cǎi Sāng Zǐ | Tíng Qián Chūn Zhú Hóng Yīng Jìn | |
| Cháng Xiāng Sī | Yún Yī Guā | |
| Dǎo Liàn Zǐ Ling | Shēn Yuàn Jìng | |
| Dié Liàn Huā | Yáo Yè Tíng Gāo Xián Xìn Bù | |
| Huàn Xī Shā | Hóng Rì Yǐ Gāo Sān Zhàng Tòu | |
| Làng Táo Shā | Lián Wài Yǔ Chán Chán | Tune written as Làng Táo Shā Lìng |
| Làng Táo Shā | Wǎng Shì Zhǐ Kān Āi | |
| Lín Jiāng Xiān | Qín Lóu Bù Jiàn Chuī Xiāo Nǚ | Tune written as Xiè Xīn Ēn Missing one character in the sixth line |
| Lín Jiāng Xiān | Yīng Táo Luò Jìn Chūn Guī Qù | Authenticity of the last 3 lines questioned |
| Liǔ Zhī | Fēng Qíng Jiàn Lǎo Jiàn Chūn Xiū | |
| Pò Zhèn Zǐ | Sì Shí Nián Lái Jiā Guó | Shiao Lih-ju sang it in Mandarin |
| Pú Sà Mán | Huā Míng Yuè Àn Lóng Qīng Wù | |
| Pú Sà Mán | Péng Lái Yuàn Bì Tiān Tái Nǚ | |
| Pú Sà Mán | Rén Shēng Chóu Hèn Hé Néng Miǎn | Tune written as Zǐ Yè Gē |
| Pú Sà Mán | Tóng Huáng Yùn Cuì Qiāng Hán Zhú | |
| Pú Sà Mán | Xún Chūn Xū Shì Xiān Chūn Zǎo | Tune written as Zǐ Yè Gē |
| Qīng Píng Yuè | Bié Lái Chūn Bàn | |
| Ruǎn Láng Guī | Dōng Fēng Chuī Shuǐ Rì Xián Shān | Possibly by Feng Yansi |
| Sān Tái Lìng | Bù Mèi Juàn Cháng Gèng | Authorship questioned |
| Wàng Jiāng Nán | Duō Shǎo Hèn | |
| Wàng Jiāng Nán | Duō Shǎo Lèi | |
| Wàng Jiāng Nán | Xián Mèng Yuǎn 2nd line: Nán Guó Zhèng Fāng Chūn | Tune written as Wàng Jiāng Méi |
| Wàng Jiāng Nán | Xián Mèng Yuǎn 2nd line: Nán Guó Zhèng Qīng Qiū | Tune written as Wàng Jiāng Méi |
| Wū Yè Tí | Zuó Yè Fēng Jiān Yǔ | |
| Xǐ Qiān Yīng | Xiǎo Yuè Zhuì | |
| Xiāng Jiàn Huān | Lín Huā Xiè Liǎo Chūn Hóng | Teresa Teng sang it in Mandarin |
| Xiāng Jiàn Huān | Wú Yán Dú Shàng Xī Lóu | Teresa Teng sang it in Mandarin Shiao Lih-ju sang it in Mandarin |
| Xiè Xīn Ēn | Jīn Chuāng Lì Kùn Qǐ Huán Yōng | Missing the rest of the poem |
| Xiè Xīn Ēn | Rǎn Rǎn Qiū Guāng Liú Bù Zhù | Possibly missing lines and/or characters |
| Xiè Xīn Ēn | Tíng Kōng Kè Sàn Rén Guī Hòu | |
| Xiè Xīn Ēn | Yīng Huā Luò Jìn Chūn Jiāng Kùn | Missing 2 lines |
| Xiè Xīn Ēn | Yīng Huā Luò Jìn Jiē Qián Yuè | |
| Yī Hú Zhū | Wǎn Zhuāng Chū Guò | |
| Yú Fù | Làng Huā Yǒu Yì Qiān Chóng Xuě | |
| Yú Fù | Yī Zhào Chūn Fēng Yī Yè Zhōu | |
| Yù Lóu Chūn | Wǎn Zhuāng Chū Liǎo Míng Jī Xuě | Chang Chen sang it in Mandarin |
| Yú Měi Rén | Chūn Huā Qiū Yuè Hé Shí Liǎo | Teresa Teng sang it in Mandarin Chan Ho Tak sang it in Cantonese Huang Yee-ling and others sang it in Taiwanese Huang Fei sang it in Taiwanese |
| Yú Měi Rén | Fēng Huí Xiǎo Yuàn Tíng Wú Lǜ |
Poetry Examples
Poems like these are often invoked in later periods of strife and confusion by literary figures.Alone Up the Western Tower
"Alone Up the Western Tower" was written after his capture. Here the poem is translated by Chan Hong-mo:
This was also rendered into a song by Teresa Teng.
Jiangnan Remembrance, second stanza
''Shi'' poetry
Li Yu's poems in the form of shi include:- "Bìng Qǐ Tí Shān Shě Bì"
- "Bìng Zhōng Gǎn Huái"
- "Bìng Zhōng Shū Shì"
- "Dào Shī"
- "Dù Zhōng Jiāng Wàng Shí Chéng Qì Xià"
- "Gǎn Huái" — 2 poems
- "Jiǔ Yuè Shí Rì Ǒu Shū"
- "Méi Huā" — 2 poems
- "Qiū Yīng"
- "Shū Líng Yán Shǒu Jīn"
- "Shū Pí Pá Bèi"
- "Sòng Dèng Wáng Èr Shí Dì Cóng Yì Mù Xuān Chéng" — including a long letter
- "Tí jīn lóu zi hòu" — including a preface
- "Wǎn Chí" — 2 poems