Lady Li

Lady Li is a fictional character from the 14th century novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, based on the events of the Three Kingdoms period. She is described to be the wife of Ma Miao (馬邈), the Grand Administrator of Jiangyou (江油) in the Shu Han state. She is remembered for her impassioned plea to her husband to not surrender the city to the invading Cao Wei army during the Wei conquest of Shu in 263 where she bit her finger to write a blood letter, and then hanged herself to demonstrate loyalty to the Shu kingdom. She is later praised by Deng Ai, a general of Cao Wei. In real life, Lady Li's story was used as a symbol of resistance by Cheng Yanqiu, one of the greatest performers of Peking Opera and a member of the Chinese Communist Party, during the Japanese invasion of China. Cheng created the play called ''The Martyrdom of Lady Li'', where he highlights Lady Li's loyalty to her nation and Ma Miao's cowardice as an affront to the reactionary Kuomintang government that surrendered to the Japanese Empire. This play roused the patriotic enthusiasm of most Chinese people, leading to its censorship by the Chinese government shortly thereafter. In Romance of the Three Kingdoms Lady Li does not appear in historical records and there is no record of the spouse of Ma Miao, who was himself a real historical Grand Administrator of Jiangyou who surrendered to Wei. She appears in the 14th century historical novel, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which romanticizes previous events and during the Three Kingdoms period of China. The novel introduces Lady Li in Chapter 117. Lady Li's husband, Ma Miao, was the governor of Jiangyou. During the conquest of Shu by Wei, he heard that the land of the east river had fallen into the enemy's hands. Although there was something prepared for the defense, his post had a large area to protect, and he was confident that Jiang Wei would defend the Saber Pass. Therefore, he did not take his military duties very seriously, just staying at home. In 263, when Deng Ai of Wei marched to Jiangyou, Ma Miao was treacherous and refused to lead the defense.