| Li Yu | |
|---|---|
| Reign | 961–975 |
| Spouse | Empress Zhou the Elder 大周后 Empress Zhou the Younger 小周后 |
| Issue | |
| Li Chongyu, Duke of Qingyuan 清源郡公李仲寓 Li Chongxuan, Prince Xian of Qixian 岐懷獻王李仲宣 |
|
| Full name | |
| Family name: Li 李 Given name: Congjia 從嘉, later Yu 煜 Courtesy name: Chongguang 重光 959: Prince of Wu 吳王 971: King of Jiangnan 江南國主 975: Marquess of Wei Ming 違命侯 |
|
| Posthumous name | |
| none[1] | |
| Father | Emperor Yuanzong of Southern Tang |
| Born | 937 |
| Died | 978 (aged 40–41) |
Li Houzhu (Chinese: 李後主; pinyin: Lǐ Hòuzhǔ; literally "The Latter Lord Li") (937–978), also known as Houzhu of Southern Tang (南唐後主, literally "the latter lord of Southern Tang"), personal name Li Yu (李煜), né Li Congjia (李從嘉), courtesy name Chongguang (重光; pinyin: chòngguāng), posthumously known as Prince of Wu (吳王), was the last ruler of the Southern Tang Kingdom from 961 to 975 during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. He was also a well-known poet. As which he has been called the "first true master" of the ci form[2]; and, as a poet is generally known by his personal name, Li Yu.
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Li Houzhu’s father Li Jing, the second ruler of the Southern Tang, died in 961. Li ascended the throne in 961, accepting a role subservient to the Song Dynasty to the north; as the Southern Tang state at this time was, in many respects, little more than a regional ruler in the face of the growing power of the Song Dynasty.
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; and, he and his family were taken as captives to the Song capital at present-day Kaifeng[3].
Although, Li Yu indeed was a great exponent and developer of the Ci poetry form, which form sometimes or often seems to characterize poetry of the Song Dynasty, there is also some difficulty in categorizing him as a Song poet: the Southern Tang state is more of a continuation of Tang than a precursor on the Song side of the divide of the history of the Tang-Song transition. Li Yu represents both a continuation of the Tang poetry tradition, as well as representing the Ci poetic style which is so especially 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 ci poems seems to have been the development of a sadder style after the death of his wife, in 964[4]. However, his best-known, and saddest, poems were composed during the years after the Song formally ended his reign in 975. He was created the Marquess of Wei Ming (Chinese: 違命侯; literally, the Marquess of Disobeyed Edicts), a token title only: actually, he was a prisoner. Li's works from this period dwell on his regret for the lost kingdom and the pleasures it had brought him.
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 great 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[5]. His story remains very popular in many Cantonese operas. In 2006, a 40-episodes wuxia TV series named ' Li Hou Zhu yu Zhao Kuang Yin' or 'Li Hou Zhu and Zhao Kuang Yin' was made, with main stars Nicky Wu (as Li Houzhu), Huang Wen Hao (as Emperor Taizu of Song) and Liu Tao (as Empress Zhou, wife of Li Houzhu).
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 Young by the Song emperor. After his death, he was posthumously created the Prince of Wu (吳王).
| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Zhongzhu of Southern Tang Li Jing (李璟) |
Emperor of Southern Tang 961–975 |
Succeeded by None (End of kingdom) |