Liu Yong

Also known as Liu Sanbian · Liu Qi · Liu Tuntian

Liu Yong, first named Sanbian with the courtesy name Jingzhuang, later took the name Yong and the courtesy name Qiqing, known as Liu the Seventh, came from Chong'an in Jianzhou. As a young man he spent his time in the pleasure quarters of Kaifeng writing new songs for musicians and singers, and he failed the examinations repeatedly before passing the jinshi in 1034. After local posts such as magistrate of Yuhang he ended as a vice-director of the Bureau of Military Farms, hence the name Liu Tuntian. He wrote many long slow-tune lyrics, among them *Bells in the Rain* (*Yulin ling*) on parting and *Gazing at the Tide* (*Wang haichao*) on the splendor of Hangzhou, collected as *Lyrics for Music* (*Yuezhang ji*). Neither the year nor the place of his death is securely known. Ye Mengde's *Notes from Escaping the Heat* (*Bishu luhua*) quotes an envoy back from the Western Xia who said his songs were sung wherever there was a well.