Li Shishi was a prostitute in Kaifeng

Kaifeng

Kaifeng , known previously by several names , is a prefecture-level city in east-central Henan province, Central China. Nearly 5 million people live in the metropolitan area...

, the capital of the Song Dynasty

Song Dynasty

The Song Dynasty was a ruling dynasty in China between 960 and 1279; it succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, and was followed by the Yuan Dynasty. It was the first government in world history to issue banknotes or paper money, and the first Chinese government to establish a...

, and Emperor Huizong was a regular client of hers.

In the classical novel Water Margin

Water Margin

Water Margin , also known as Outlaws of the Marsh, All Men Are Brothers, Men of the Marshes, or The Marshes of Mount Liang, is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature.Attributed to Shi Nai'an and written in vernacular Chinese, the story, set in the Song Dynasty,...

, Li Shishi encounters the outlaws from Liangshan Marsh

Mount Liang

Mount Liang is a mountain in Liangshan County, Shandong province, China which rises to 197.9 m above sea level. It is well known as the stronghold of the 108 legendary Song Dynasty heroes of the classic Chinese novel Water Margin...

 on two occasions; on the second, more important encounter, she befriends Yan Qing

Yan Qing

Yan Qing is a fictional character in the Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. He ranks 36th of the 36 Heavenly Spirits of the 108 Liangshan heroes and is nicknamed "Wanderer" or "Prodigal"....

 and agrees to become his sworn older sister. She then promises Yan Qing then she will tell the emperor about the outlaws' plight and desire to be granted amnesty.

Some Chinese poets, including Zhang Xian and Chao Chongzhi

Chao Chongzhi

Chao Chongzhi was a Song Chinese poet. His cousins Chao Buzhi, Chao Shuozhi, Chao Yongzhi were all famous litterateur at that time. Chao had studied with Chen Shidao in the year one. He was a close friend of Lü Benzhong...

, wrote poems for Li Shishi.

After the Jingkang Incident

Jingkang Incident

The Jingkang Incident , the Humiliation of Jingkang , or The Disorders of the Jingkang Period took place in 1127 when invading Jurchen soldiers from the Jin Dynasty besieged and sacked Bianjing , the capital of the Song Dynasty of China...

, Li Shishi fled to Zhejiang

Zhejiang

Zhejiang is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. The word Zhejiang was the old name of the Qiantang River, which passes through Hangzhou, the provincial capital...

 or Hunan

Hunan

' is a province of South-Central China, located to the south of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and south of Lake Dongting...

.