5 Yuan Li Qingzhao

Li Qingzhao (1084–c.1155) is widely regarded as the foremost female poet in Chinese literary history, known for her *ci* lyrics composed during the Northern and Southern Song dynasties. Her later work was shaped by genuine catastrophe — the Jurchen Jin invasion of 1127 forced her southward, scattering her husband's vast collection of bronzes and inscriptions, much of which was lost or destroyed in flight. That biographical rupture between her earlier domestic poems and the grief-saturated later ones is the central fact of her reputation.

This coin is part of a broader Chinese silver commemorative series honoring historical cultural figures issued through the late 1980s. Mintage figures for the series were modest by modern Chinese commemorative standards.