Li Shishi was a famous prostitute in the late Northern Song Dynasty, who was generous and chivalrous, and was called "Flying General". Her deeds are mostly recorded in the notes of wild history and novel commentary. In Zhang Duanyi's "Collection of Gui'er" and Zhang Bangji's "Mozhuang Manga", it is said that Li Shishi had contacts with the famous literati Zhou Bangyan and Huang Chongzhi, and exchanged poems with each other, so it became a period of affair in the late Northern Song Dynasty. During the reign of Emperor Huizong of Song, after the reign of Emperor Huizong of Song (1111-1118), he also often traveled in small ways, guided by several internal ministers, and took a small palanquin to Master Li's house. Legend has it that when Song Jiang, who had gathered a crowd of people to revolt in Liangshan, planned to submit to the imperial court, he wanted to take advantage of Li Shishi's relationship with Emperor Huizong, and also secretly entered Beijing to visit Li Shishi. Because Master Li was deeply favored by Emperor Huizong, Emperor Weizong later summoned her to the Inner Palace and was crowned Lady Winguo or Concubine Li Ming.
In December of the seventh year of Xuanhe (January 1126), Emperor Huizong ceded the throne to the crown prince Qinzong due to the advance of the Jin army. Li Shishi lost his patron, and in order to avoid disaster, he collected the money rewarded by Emperor Huizong and dedicated it to the official government to help the Hebei army, and begged herself to be a female Taoist. In the first year of Jing Kang (1126), Emperor Qinzong ordered that Li Shishi's family should not be removed. Soon, Fenjing fell and the Northern Song Dynasty collapsed. After this change, Li Shishi not only ran out of family property, but also her own whereabouts became controversial and confusing.
Looking at the accounts of the past dynasties, there are roughly three theories about the whereabouts of Master Li. One theory is represented by the legendary novel "The Outer Biography of Master Li". The novel says that after the Jin Army broke through the Capital, the commander-in-chief lazily asked for Master Li by name, claiming that the lord of the whole country also heard of Master Li's reputation and must get it alive, and must get her alive. Zhang Bangchang and others found out the traces of Master Li and dedicated her to the Golden Camp. Li Shishi angrily rebuked Zhang Bangchang, took off the golden hairpin to stab the throat and committed suicide, but did not die, and then folded the golden hairpin and swallowed it, only to die of exhaustion. Popular novels of later generations often follow this saying. However, the author of the novel mainly borrows people to express the feelings of the subjugation of the country, and I am afraid that there is no factual basis, so scholars often disagree with this statement.
Another theory, represented by Zhang Bangji's "Mozhuang Manga", which says that After Li Shishi was born without family property, he was exiled in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and the local scholar invited her to sing, but Li Shishi himself was "haggard and never returned to her state". There is a similar account in the last commentary, Xuanhe Testament, but it also says that she "later wandered into the Lake Xiangjian (in present-day Hunan) and was obtained by merchants." and the Song merchants' income". And Song Liu Ziyi's poem "Chronicle of Beijing" also has "Meat hub bustling things can be hurt, and the teacher is old and crosses the lake." The gold sandalwood plate has no color, and a song of the emperor of the year" verse. Subsequently, Ming Mei Dingzuo's "Green Mud Lotus Record" said that it was lost in Huxiang, and Chen Chen's "Water Margin Later Biography" in the early Qing Dynasty said that it was lost in Lin'an, which may have followed the above statement.
There is also a saying that Li Shishi was captured and went north after the fall of Fenjing, was forced to marry a sick and disabled old soldier, and finally died a miserable and tragic death.
According to the analysis of reason, it seems that the second statement is more credible. Before the fall of Fenjing, Li Shishi had been deposed as a shujin and became a female Taoist monk, saying that it was very likely that she was hidden in the folk and exiled in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Huxiang. However, the Jin army requested concubines from the palace according to the list provided by the courtiers at that time, and Li Shishi was unlikely to be included in the list, so it is difficult to establish that she was named and requisitioned or taken captive to the north. Of course, Master Li is a legendary woman, and the rumors about her inevitably have many elements of speculation and false rumors, so what her fate is, I am afraid, is a mystery that will never be solved.