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Concept
Li Shishi
Summary
Li Shishi (?-?) was a Yiji or Geji () from Bianjing (now Kaifeng), the capital of the Song Empire. At the time, jiaoji refers to women who engaged in performing arts for a living, and their scope of work included: singing, dancing, reciting poetry and painting during the Northern Song dynasty (960 - 1127). According to Gui Er Ji () written by Zhang Duanyi (), Emperor Huizong was a regular patron of hers. She fled to Zhejiang or Hunan (recorded in Da Song Xuanhe Yishi, ) after the Jingkang Incident of the Jin–Song wars occurred in year 1127 AD, as recorded in Mo Man Lu () by Zhang Bangji ().
Born Wang Shishi, her mother died soon after her birth. Her father fed her bean starch to keep her alive. 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 Yiji named Li Yun, who owned a gelou. Li Yun changed the girl's surname to Li. (Her given name, Shishi, has Buddhist connotations. Li was taken to the entertainment district Jinqian Xiang and put to work as a young Yiji.
Li was renown for her beauty and artistic abilities. Amongst her admirers were the renowned poet and bureaucrat Zhou Bangyan and the outlaw Song Jiang. Her frame spread to the Emperor, Huizong, who visited her in disguised as a business man in 1109. Her charm and elegance led him to visit her whenever he could after the meeting. Their relationship became on open secret in Bianjing. 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. Part of the story is told in the classic novel, the Water Margin.
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).
Official source
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