Liu Yong (Liu Yung) 987-1053

Poet and musician, celebrated for his ci poetry, particularly his man ci, although the way he blended colloquial language into his poems was not always admired. A native of Fujian, he was frequently on the move when young. His repeated failures in the civil service examinations drove him to spend much time in the pleasure quarters of the capital (present-day Kaifeng), where he became very popular with the courtesans. He did not obtain his jinshi degree and an official post until he was forty-seven years old.