Liu Jinding was a native of Xiaojian Town in Anhui Province.¹ She lived during a time of conflict - the Five Dynasties era was ending and the Song Dynasty was just starting.² When the Song king Zhao Kuangyin, the yet-to-be founding emperor of Song, was trapped by the Southern Tang forces in Shouzhou, Liu Jinding answered his summons for aid. Riding on her charger, Liu slashed and hacked her way through four enemy checkpoints on her way to rescue the king.³

In her campaign to subdue the Southern Tang and relieve the Song king, Liu took Shoutang Pass from the enemy and stationed her troops there.⁴ When the soldiers of Southern Tang came to retake this strategic location, they surrounded Shoutang Pass. But the seventeen year old Liu Jinding appeared unperturbed. She calmly finished her personal grooming routine before leading her troops into battle, scattering the enemy who fled in defeat.⁵ People later nicknamed Shoutang Pass "The Vanity Table" in memory of Liu.⁶

Liu's base was at Shuangshuo Hill in Mengcheng County, Anhui, over which she flew her banner with the words "Protecting the home and defending the country". Riding a red warhorse and wielding a golden saber, Liu Jinding was a flamboyant character who is alive and well in local memory even to this day. A spring on top of Shuangshuo Hill once bore the name "Spring where Liu Jinding Waters the Horses." Today, its name has been shortened to "The Horse-watering Spring". The county designated the spring as a protected landmark. In 1983, the locals built a Liu Jinding memorial next to the spring.⁷ The grave of Gao Qiong, husband of Liu Jinding, lies on the south side of Shuangshuo Hill. Gao was an official in the administration of Emperor Taizhu of Song. His grave too has been designated a county heritage site.⁸

Liu Jinding has been immortalized in operas such as "Liu Jinding descends on Southern Tang" and "Liu Jinding overcomes the Fire Dragon military formation". She has also inspired modern novels such as "The Heroine Liu Jinding", "The Liu Jinding Saga", and "Liu Jinding Pacifies Southern Tang".⁹

X.T.

Notes

1. Xiaojian Town - Mengcheng County, Anhui official site (Chinese article)
2. Xiaojian Town - Mengcheng County, Anhui official site (Chinese article)
3. Chuchun Town - Mengcheng County, Anhui official site (Chinese article)
4. Liu An and Huainan (Chinese article)
5. Shoutang Pass - Tourism in Huainan (Chinese article)
6. Shoutang Pass - Tourism in Huainan (Chinese article)
7. Xiaojian Town - Mengcheng County, Anhui official site (Chinese article)
8. Xiaojian Town - Mengcheng County, Anhui official site (Chinese article)
9. Representative works of Yue (Zhejiang) opera (Chinese article)
   Cantonese Opera: Liu Jinding defeats the Fire Dragon Formation (Chinese article)
   Returning Zhuangzi to Mengcheng (Chinese article)