The Southern Tang's last king, who surrendered to the Song in 975 and wrote his finest ci as a captive. His 虞美人 asks how much sorrow one can hold: 恰似一江春水向东流, 'just like a river of spring water flowing east'.
Lǐ Yù wángguó yǐhòu xiě de cí chōngmǎn le bēishāng.
The ci Li Yu wrote after losing his kingdom are full of sorrow.
Tips
culture
The line before 'a river of spring water flowing east' asks 问君能有几多愁, 'how much sorrow can you hold?'. Tradition says the poem, sung at his birthday party on the Double Seventh festival of 978, so angered 宋太宗 that he had him poisoned.
history
He is usually called 李后主: 后主, 'the later ruler', is the name history gives the last king of a fallen state. A gifted painter, calligrapher and musician, he turned the ci from a banquet song into a form for personal grief.
