Li Shishi

Li Shishi (?-?)[2] was a courtesan (角妓 / 角伎)[3] during the Northern Song Dynasty (960 - 1127),[1] in Bianjing (now Kaifeng), the capital of the Song Dynasty.[4] Emperor Huizong was a regular client of hers.[5] She fled to Zhejiang[6] or Hunan after the Jingkang Incident of the Jin–Song wars occurred in 1127.[7]

Li Shishi
Born	Wang Shishi[1]
Occupation	Courtesan
Era	Northern Song Dynasty
Parent(s)	Wang Yin (father)

Li Shishi
Water Margin character
Courtesan
Names
Simplified Chinese	李师师
Traditional Chinese	李師師
Pinyin	Lǐ Shīshī
Wade–Giles	Li Shih-shih

Early life

Born Wang Shishi,[1] her mother died soon after her birth. Her father fed her bean starch to keep her alive.[8] Her father, Wang Yin, was worker in a clothing pigment factory in Bianjing. When Li was four, her father was jailed for delaying an Imperial textile order. He later died in prison. Li went at first to an orphanage but was later taken in by a procuress named Li Yun, who owned a brothel.[2] Li Yun changed the girl's surname to Li. (Her given name, Shishi, has Buddhist connotations.[9] Li was taken to the entertainment district Jinqian Xiang and put to work as a young prostitute.[1]

Courtesan

Li was renown for her beauty and artistic abilities.[1] Amongst her admirers were the renowned poet and bureaucrat Zhou Bangyan[10] and the outlaw Song Jiang.[11] Her frame spread to the Emperor, Huizong, who visited her in disguised as a business man in 1109.[9] Her charm and elegance led him to visit her whenever he could after the meeting. Their relationship became on open secret in Bianjing.[12] Some sources relate that Li Shishi moved into the Emperor's palace and was given the title Lady of Ying State. Other sources say Huizong had a tunnel dug from the palace to Li Shishi's house.[9] Part of the story is told in the classic novel, the Water Margin.[13]

In 1126 Huizong took responsibility for overwhelming losses during the Jin–Song Wars and abdicated in favour of his eldest son Zhao Huan (Emperor Qinzong).[14] Realising she was in a precarious position, Li Shishi donated all the gifts from Huizong to the army who were putting up a valiant defence, and requested the Emperor's permission to become a Daoist nun.[9] In 1127 Bianjing was overrun by the Jin army. Huizong and his court was captured and Huizong later died, ending the Northern Song dynasty.[13] Li is reported to have fled south,[13] although other accounts give that she committed suicide by swallowing a gold hairpin after she was offered to Jin commander.[15][9]

In fiction

In the classical novel Water Margin, Li Shishi encounters the outlaws from Liangshan Marsh on two occasions; on the second, more important encounter, she befriends Yan Qing and agrees to become her sworn sister. She then promises Yan Qing that she will tell the emperor about the outlaws' plight and desire to be granted amnesty.[16]

Poems about Li Shishi

Song Dynasty poet Chao Chongzhi described Li Shishi's dancing and singing talents as follows:

Watch her dance to "Nichang Yuyi Qu",[17] listen to her recite / sing "Yushu Houting Hua".[18] (看舞霓裳羽衣曲，聽歌玉樹後庭花)

Southern Song era poet Zhu Dunru (朱敦儒; 1081-1159) wrote:

Performing an interpretation of "Yangguan"[19] in another tone and style, in the previous dynasty[20] only Madam Li (Li Shishi) was capable of doing that. (解唱《陽關》別調聲，前朝惟有李夫人)

References

1. Ditmore 2006, p. 251.
2. Woo 2016, p. 135.
3. 角妓 / 角伎 (pinyin: Jiǎojì) refers to women who engaged in performing arts for a living at that time. Their scope of work included: singing, dancing, reciting poetry and painting.
4. Zhang Bangji (张邦基), Mo Man Lu (墨漫录).
5. Zhang Duanyi (张端义), Gui Er Ji (贵耳集).
6. Da Song Xuanhe Yishi (大宋宣和遗事)
7. Zhang Bangji, Mo Zhuang Man Lu (墨庄漫录).
8. Zhenjun & Jing 2017, p. 145.
9. Lee & Wiles 2014, p. 223.
10. Ditmore 2006, pp. 251-252.
11. Woo 2016, p. 137.
12. West & Idema 2014, p. 274.
13. Ditmore 2006, p. 252.
14. Levine 2009, p. 636.
15. Zhenjun & Jing 2017, p. 159.
16. Water Margin, Chapter 72.
17. "Nichang Yuyi Qu" (霓裳羽衣曲; literally: "Song of Colourful Plumage") was a musical piece presented by Yang Jingzhong (楊敬忠), jiedushi of Hexi (河西), during the Tianbao era (713-741) of the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty.
18. "Yushu Houting Hua" (玉樹後庭花; literally: "Jade Trees and Courtyard Flowers") was a poem written by the Chen Dynasty's last ruler Chen Shubao (553-604). It was of the gongti (宮体; literally: "palace style") genre of Chinese poetry.
19. "Yangguan" refers to the "Yangguan Qu" (陽關曲; literally: "Song of Yangguan"), which is also known as "Yangguan San Die" (陽關三疊; literally: "Three Overlaps of Yangguan"). It is an ancient Chinese musical piece based on a poem by Tang Dynasty poet Wang Wei (699-759).
20. The "previous dynasty" refers to the Northern Song Dynasty.

Bibliography

• Ditmore, Melissa Hope (2006). Encyclopedia of Prostitution and Sex Work. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 9780313329685.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Levine, Ari Daniel (2009). "The Reigns of Hui-tsung (1100–1126) and Ch'in-tsung (1126–1127) and the Fall of the Northern Sung". In Paul Jakov Smith; Denis C. Twitchett (eds.). The Cambridge History of China: Volume 5, The Sung dynasty and Its Precursors, 907–1279. Cambridge University Press. pp. 556–643. ISBN 978-0-521-81248-1.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Lee, Lily Xiao Hong; Wiles, Sue (2014). Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women: Tang Through Ming, 618-1644. M.E. Sharpe. ISBN 9780765643162.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• West, Stephen H.; Idema, Wilt L. (2014). The Orphan of Zhao and Other Yuan Plays: The Earliest Known Versions. Columbia University Press. ISBN 9780231538107.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Woo, X. L. (2016). Love Tales of Ancient China. Algora Publishing. ISBN 9781628942064.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Zhenjun, Zhang; Jing, Wang (2017). Song Dynasty Tales: A Guided Reader. World Scientific. ISBN 9789813143296.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)