A Letter to Su Wu from Li Ling

During the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D. 220), General Li Guangli commands the army charged with chasing the Huns from the northern part of China. Li Ling is responsible for military supplies, but his bravery has also resulted in the command of 5,000 troops. In one battle, short of food and under siege by an enemy ten times their number, his troops engage in a bloody battle with the Huns. Their attack is unauthorized, so the Emperor sends no reinforcements and, worse, executes Li Ling's family back home. Li Ling surrenders to the Huns after he receives the news of his family's execution. As a general in the Hun army, he is able to visit Su Wu, a diplomatic envoy to the Huns, appointed by the Han Emperor and held hostage by the Huns. In A.D. 81, Su Wu is released after ten years' imprisonment, and asks Li Ling to return home with him. Li Ling gives his reply in a now-famous letter.



In the letter, there are many sentimentally recorded battle scenes. Vivid and detailed descriptions of his spiritual experiences make this letter an excellent piece of art in and of itself. Works of art in many forms, including Cantonese opera, have taken inspiration from the themes in this letter, such as homesickness in enemy territory, a bloody battle launched alone in the enemy's hinterland, and the glory of Su Wu's return compared with the humiliation of his detention by the Huns.

(For other plays about Su Wu in this collection, please see entries for Su Wu is Reluctant to Part, Rushing for the Departing Boat with Sadness and The Return of Mr. Su Wu.)