At the end of the 13th century, as the Mongols were conquering China, the stories of Li Ling,³ and Su Wu, both captured by the Xiongnu (Huns), became topical again: should one serve non-Han rulers? This is perhaps behind at least three poems in Qinshu Daquan that mention this melody. The poems are by Chen Qiuyan (13th/14th c.), Xie Ao (1249 - 1295), and Yun Ruo (1280 - 1359).⁴ This theme also appeared in contemporary painting.⁵

Tablature for Li Ling Si Han survives in only two handbooks.⁶ The version here in Fengxuan Xianpin has lyrics. I have written out a transcription and studied this version, but the one I have actually learned is the related melody in Xilutang Qintong (1549), which has no lyrics. The origins of the melody are unstated, but one might speculate that it, like the poems, was also written during the Yuan dynasty.

Li Ling was a skillful archer and cavalry officer from a family in Chang An with a long history of military leadership.⁷ When the Han Wudi emperor first sent Li Ling on an expedition against the Xiongnu he met with success. This led the emperor in 99 BCE to send a major force against the Xiongnu, then located in the western Gobi desert and eastern Tianshan (Qilian) mountains.⁸ The main body had 30,000 troops while Li Ling, with 5,000 cavalry, went off separately in an attempt to divide the Xiongnu army. However, Li Ling ventured too far and near Juyan found himself surrounded by about 30,000 (or 80,000) Xiongnu troops. The Han soldiers tried to escape, but after 8 days half the men were dead and they had no more weapons. Finally, cornered in a valley and out of food, he surrendered to the Xiongnu. Only 400 soldiers managed to escape. Because of Li Ling's family and personal bravery the Xiongnu leader honored Li Ling by giving him a daughter in marriage. However, when Wudi heard this back in Chang'An, and that Li Ling was serving the Xiongnu, he had Li Ling's mother, wife and children executed.⁹

Several years earlier, a court official named Su Wu had been sent by Han Wudi as an envoy to the Xiongnu (see Han Jie Cao). The Xiongnu detained Su Wu and tried to get him to work for them. They tried various methods, including having Li Ling talk with him, but Su Wu refused. In 86 there was peace and in 81, after 18 years in captivity, Su Wu was able to return to Han. However, Li Ling could never go home. He spent the rest of his life amongst the Xiongnu, dying amongst them 74 BCE.

Early writers often praised Su Wu and criticized Li Ling. Some later writers were more sympathetic to Li Ling, but he has always remained controversial, not so much for his surrender as for his willingness to work for the enemy.¹⁰

Wen Xuan has three poems¹¹ attributed to Li Ling, plus a letter¹² he is said to have written to Su Wu.

 
Original preface

None

 
Music and Lyrics¹³
8 sections (titled)

 
Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1 14819.1082 has only 李陵 Li Ling himself, no mention of music. (Return)

2 From standard tuning lower the third string (Return)

3 14819.1082 李陵 Li Ling 字少卿 style name Shaoqing. Biography in Loewe, A Biographical Dictionary of the Qin, Former Han and Xin Periods (Return)

4 The poems by Yun Ruo (which mentions 5-character verse) and Xie Ao are 7x4; that by Chen Qiuyan quite lengthy. None of these poems sheds any light on the actual music. (Return)

5 A famous example online is Parting of Su Wu and Li Ling. Also see Michael Sullivan, The Three Perfections; NY, George Braziller, 1999, p.42ff. (Return)

6 Zha's Guide 16/167/363. However, both the lyrics and melody seem to have some connection to versions of 蘇武思君 Su Wu Si Jun, which Zha Fuxi lists together with Han Jie Cao. (Return)

7 李廣 Shi Ji #109 has his biography and that of several descendents, including Li Ling; the account in this paragraph comes from this source. (中文, p. 2877.) Watson (RGH II, p.128, fn.4) says the end of Chapter 110, including comments attributed to Sima Qian praising Li Ling, was a later edition. (Return)

8 祁連 Qilian is said to have been the Xiongnu name for 天山 Tianshan (Heavenly Mountains), a vast mountain range running east west in Xinjiang province. About 500km east of its eastern end was the Xiongnu capital 居延 Juyan (mentioned later), near the modern city of 額濟納旗 Ejin Qi, near 42°N, 101°E in what is today far western Inner Mongolia (Return)

9 After Li Ling surrendered, the only person who defended him at Han Wudi's court was Sima Qian, who as a result was given the choice of honorable suicide or shame and castration; he chose the latter so that he could complete the Shi Ji. (Return)

10 A net search for "Li Ling" "Su Wu" gives more detail. (Return)

11 文選 Chapter 29 (中文, p. 1295).
The three poems are all written in 5-character (pentasyllabic) lines. Giles credits 嚴羽 Yan Yu (ca. 1200) with saying Li Ling invented pentasyllabic verse, perhaps based on these poems. However, many critics doubt the attribution of these three poems to Li Ling himself.
(Return)

12 文選 Chapter 42 (中文, p. 1881).
The letter to Su Wu attributed to Li Ling has been translated by Giles. See, e.g., Herbert Giles, A History of Chinese Literature; NY, Grove Press (originally 1923; Evergreen Reprint, 1958?), pp.84-9. (Return)

13 The chapter titles and lyrics begin,

1. 中郎困塞

   漢貞和年，中郎將使征番。
   陳敗之間，露義膽，顯忠肝。
   孔曰﹕成仁；孟曰﹕取義；生不易，死當全，金石同堅。

2. 異俗殊風

   胡兒胡騎縱橫也，烏合醜番戎，
   陷孤忠。孤臊，孤臭，最羶腥，
   衣冠不與漢人制度相同也，殊俗總殊風。
   衣相同，不分男女烏雌雄。
   如蜂如蟻紫塞中。馳戎馬，拽彎弓，皮衣皮帽皮頦纓，
   黃沙並愁霧，風蕩也迷蒼穹。
   天教孤忠，死膻擔，可惜英雄。
   想吾皇憐子也發精兵，憂心忡忡，復忡忡。

3. 笳鼓行兵

   紫塞黃沙，弓箭胡人業，鞍馬胡人家。 ....

4. 持節不屈

5. 囓雪吞氈

6. 赫忠順虜

7. 正氣摧番

8. 思君望救

   思君王雁杳魚沉。想家邦，想那漢闕，料吾皇憶忠良，
   猶及孤臣，發援兵至此番。想孤臣有歸心，無歸期。
   (Return)

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