After the fall of the Tang Dynasty in 907, Five dynasties -the Later Liang (907-923), Later Tang (923-936), Later Jin (936-947), Later Han (947-951 ) and Later Zhou (951-960) -quickly succeeded one another in the north, and ten independent states - Wu, Wuyue, Min, Chu, Southern Han, Former Shu, Later Shu, Jingnan, Southern Tang and Northern Han -were established, mainly in the south.
The Southern Tang, one of the Ten Kingdoms, was founded in 937. The capital was located in Jinling (present-day Nanjing in Jiangsu Province). The state was named Tang (history would refer to it as the Southern Tang). The Southern Tang was conquered in 975 by the Northern Song. It was ruled by three emperors and lasted a total of 39 years.
Li Yu (937-978), the last ruler of the Southern Tang ascended the throne in 961. He is historically known as Li Houzhu (literally meaning the last lord of the Southern Tang).
This fertile land was large and prosperous compared to the other Ten States of that period. However, the three generations of emperors were so mediocre that they wasted all their natural advantages.
Li Yu was a very peculiar monarch. He was idiotic in terms of politics, but an excellent ruler in terms of the arts. He was skilled in calligraphy, music, painting, and poetry, especially the ci form. He has been called the “first true master” of the ci form in the history of Chinese poetry.
After founding the Song Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin launched successive military expeditions against the neighboring kingdoms. Several small states were easily conquered, so Li Yu began to panic. His first plan was to pay large tribute to the Song court so as to maintain his power. Then he wrote a letter to the Song emperor, saying that he was willing to discard the title of “Southern Tang” and to term himself “lord of the regions south of the Yangtze River.” However, his proposals did nothing to change Zhao Kuangyin’s determination to unify all China under the Song banner.
In 974, Song Emperor Taizu Zhao Kuangyin sent 100,000 troops to attack the Southern Tang by water and land. Arriving at the banks of the Yangtze River, the Song Dynasty armies prepared to cross the river by building a floating bridge in order to attack Jinling. Hearing this news, Li Yu did not believe it, and continued drinking with his ministers.
The Song Dynasty armies crossed the Yangtze River and quickly arrived at the gates of Jinling. At that time Li Yu was chanting sutras and praying with the monks and Taoist priests in the palace. On the second day, he went up to the gate tower to make his rounds. Immediately he saw the banners of the Song Dynasty armies all around his capital. He immediately sent a special envoy to the capital of the Song Dynasty to sue for peace.
The peace talk failed and the two armies fought. The Southern Tang army was annihalated. Before the Song army could conquer his capital, Li Yu piled up a lot of straw in the palace. He planned to set fire to it and take his own life, but in the end he couldn’t go through with it. He was taken captive by the Song Dynasty armies. The Southern Tang state ceased to be.
Li Yu was marched off to the capital of the Song Dynasty and was made the Marquess of Wei Ming (literally, the Marquess of Disobeyed Edicts) by Song Emperor Taizu.
Li Yu became a prisoner. However, his best-known poems were composed during the years after the Song formally ended his reign in 975. Li’s works from this period dwell on his lament for his lost kingdom and the pleasure it had brought him.
Song Emperor Taizu Zhao Kuangyin passed away in 976. Li Yu was poisoned by the Song emperor Taizong Zhao Jiong (namely Zhao Kuangyi) in 977.
