Royals › Monarch / Emperor

Li Yu

Last ruler of the Southern Tang, who surrendered Jinling to the Song in 975 and wrote his best-known ci lyrics as a captive in Kaifeng

Also known as Nantang Houzhu · Li Congjia · Chong Guang · Lianfeng Jushi · Zhongshan Yinshi

Li Yu, born Li Congjia with the courtesy name Chongguang, was the sixth son of Li Jing, the middle ruler of the Southern Tang. He succeeded at Jinling in 961, accepted the Song calendar and sent yearly tribute, and in 971 dropped the Tang dynastic name to style himself Ruler of Jiangnan. When Song armies took Jinling in 975 he surrendered and was taken to Kaifeng as the Marquis of Disobeyed Orders, later raised to Duke of Longxi by Emperor Taizong. He died at Kaifeng on the seventh night of the seventh month in 978; the Song writer Wang Zhi's Moji says Taizong, angered by his lyrics of longing for his lost state, had him poisoned. Skilled in painting, calligraphy and music, he wrote early lyrics on palace life and, as a captive, songs of loss such as Beautiful Lady Yu and Joy of Meeting. Wang Guowei's Remarks on Song Lyrics (Renjian cihua) credits him with turning the lyric from entertainers' songs into a medium for scholar-officials.

Life and times

  1. 937 CEBornFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsSong
  2. 975Song Captures Jinling, Li Yu Surrendersage 38In 975 Cao Bin's Northern Song army broke into Jinling, the Southern Tang ruler Li Yu surrendered with his ministers, and Southern Tang came to an end.
  3. 978 CEDied

Works

  1. Literature · Sayings27
    1. Too Painful to Look Back OnFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsIdiom popularized by Li Yu's The Beautiful Lady Yu: memories too painful to revisit
    2. A Brief Indulgence in Dreamt JoyFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsLine from Li Yu's Waves Washing the Sands: a captive king's brief joy inside a dream
    3. A Floating Life Reckoned as One DreamFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsLine from Li Yu's Crows Cry at Night: looking back, a whole life seems a single dream
    4. The Hurried Farewell to the Ancestral TempleFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsLine from Li Yu's Breaking Through the Ranks: a captured king's hasty farewell to his ancestors
    5. As Far Apart as Heaven and the Human WorldFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsIdiom from Li Yu's Ripples Sifting Sand: worlds apart, like heaven and earth
    6. +22 more
      1. Shen Yue's Waist and Pan Yue's TemplesFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsIdiom from Li Yu's Breaking the Ranks: a captive king wasting away like Shen Yue and Pan Yue
      2. Spring Gone with Flowing Water and Fallen BlossomsFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsIdiom from Li Yu's song lyric Waves Scouring the Sands: spring and past glory swept away
      3. Only the Road to Drunkenness Is SmoothFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsLine from Li Yu's Crows Cry at Night: only the road to drunkenness is smooth
      4. Carved Balustrades and Jade Steps of a Lost PalaceFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsIdiom from Li Yu's last lyric: the palace still stands, but faces have changed
      5. Sorrow Like a River of Spring Water Flowing EastFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsFamous line from Li Yu's Yu Meiren: sorrow as endless as a spring river flowing east
      6. Worldly Affairs Drift Away like Flowing WaterFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsFamous line from Li Yu's Wu Ye Ti: the world's affairs slip away like water
      7. Life's Regrets Run On as Rivers Run EastFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsFamous line from Li Yu's Xiang Jian Huan: regret as endless as the eastward river
      8. When Had I Ever Known Shield and Spear: Li Yu's LamentFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsFamous line from Li Yu's Po Zhen Zi: a ruler raised in luxury who never knew war
      9. A Taste All Its Own upon the HeartFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsFamous line from Li Yu's Xiang Jian Huan: a sorrow with a taste of its own
      10. Cut It Will Not Break, Sort It and It Tangles: Li Yu's Parting SorrowFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsFamous line from Li Yu's Xiang Jian Huan: sorrow like silk that won't cut or untangle
      11. My Family Realm of Forty YearsFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsFamous line from Li Yu's Pozhenzi: a captive king remembers the realm he lost
      12. How Much Regret Last NightFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsFamous line from Li Yu's Wangjiangnan: the bitterness of dreaming of a lost kingdom
      13. Gone All Too SoonFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsFamous line from Li Yu's Xiangjianhuan: spring's red flowers fade far too fast
      14. Lonely Wutong Trees, Autumn Locked in a Deep CourtyardFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsFamous line from Li Yu's Xiangjianhuan: a captive king's autumn locked in a lonely courtyard
      15. When Will the Spring Flowers and Autumn Moons Ever EndFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsFamous line from Li Yu's lyric Yu Meiren, the endless sorrow of a ruler who lost his kingdom
      16. Parting Sorrow That Grows the Farther One TravelsFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsFamous line from Li Yu's lyric Qing Ping Yue: sorrow that spreads like spring grass
      17. Only the Rosy Faces Have ChangedFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsFamous line from Li Yu's lyric Yu Meiren: the palace remains, the faces have changed
      18. The Woodland Blossoms Have Shed Their Spring RedFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsFamous line from Li Yu's lyric Xiang Jian Huan: how quickly beauty fades
      19. In Dreams Forgetting One Is Only a Captive GuestFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsFamous line from Li Yu's lyric Lang Tao Sha Ling: forgetting captivity only in dreams
      20. Tears Stained with RougeFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsFamous line from Li Yu's lyric Xiang Jian Huan: rain-wet red petals as tears of parting
      21. Falling Plum Petals Whirl Like SnowFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsFamous line from Li Yu's lyric Qing Ping Yue: whirling plum petals as the turmoil of parting
      22. Carriages Flow Like Water, Horses Like DragonsFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsFamous line from Li Yu's lyric Wang Jiang Nan: remembered splendor of carriages and horses
  2. Literature · Lyrics9
    1. The Beautiful Lady Yu: When Will Spring Blossoms and Autumn Moons EndFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsCaptive Li Yu's ci from Kaifeng, the fallen Southern Tang ruler's lament for his lost realm
    2. Joy of Meeting: In Silence I Ascend the West Tower AloneFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsShort lyric by the captive Li Yu: alone in the west tower with a sorrow that will not untangle
    3. Joy of Meeting: Forest Blossoms Shed Their Spring CrimsonFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsLi Yu's captive lyric on blossoms stripped by wind and rain, grief flowing on like water
    4. Ripples Sifting Sand: Outside the Blinds Rain MurmursFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsLi Yu's lyric in captivity: a dream of forgetting, then waking to rain and a vanished kingdom
    5. Dance of the Cavalry: For Forty Years My Country and HomeFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsLi Yu's lyric on the day he left his ancestral temple to surrender, his court in tears
    6. +4 more
      1. Gazing South: How Boundless the RegretFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsLi Yu's lyric of dreaming back to the imperial park at Jinling, joy recalled as grief
      2. Peace and Happiness: Half of Spring Has Passed Since PartingFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsLi Yu's early lyric missing his brother Li Congshan, parting sorrow growing like spring grass
      3. Crows Chanting at Night: Last Night Wind Blended with RainFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsLi Yu's lyric of a stormy autumn night in Kaifeng, a sleepless captive who finds life a dream
      4. Pounding Silk · Autumn Boudoir: The Deep Courtyard Is StillFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsLi Yu's short ci of an autumn night, cold fulling-stones and fitful wind keeping sleep away

Family tree

  1. Direct kin
    Li Jing
    Father
    Li Yu

Connections

  1. Shared events2
    1. Zhao Kuangyin927 CE–976 CE
    2. Pan Mei925 CE–991 CE
  2. Interactions1
    1. Cao BinPolitical: Surrender of Jinling · 931 CE–999 CESong Captures Jinling, Li Yu Surrenders