A City on the Brink: The Fall of Kaifeng

In the bitter winter of 1233, the once-magnificent Jin capital of Nanjing (modern Kaifeng) stood besieged by Mongol forces. Emperor Aizong had fled, leaving the city under the control of chancellor Cui Li—a former military officer turned opportunist. As starvation ravaged the populace and cannibalism emerged, Cui orchestrated a coup, murdering rival officials and negotiating surrender to the Mongols. His justification? Sparing the city from massacre.

This Faustian bargain created an ethical quagmire. Traditional Confucian values demanded loyalty unto death, yet survival instincts prevailed. Cui, styling himself “Prince Zheng,” now ruled as a puppet dictator, enforcing humiliating edicts like shaving heads in Mongol fashion while seizing women and wealth for his overlords.

The Poisoned Chalice: Commissioning the Merit Stele

In spring 1233, Cui’s brother Cui Yi conceived a propaganda masterpiece: a monumental stele glorifying Cui Li’s “meritorious surrender.” The task fell to three literary giants:

– Wang Ruoxu (翰林直学士): A senior Hanlin Academy scholar
– Yuan Haowen (元好问): The era’s preeminent poet
– Liu Qi (刘祁): A young but brilliant historian

Their dilemma was existential. Refusal meant execution; compliance meant eternal infamy. As Yuan later lamented, they were “trapped between the butcher’s knife and the historian’s brush.”

The Writers’ Gambit: Three Conflicting Accounts

### Wang Ruoxu’s Defense
The elder statesman claimed he dodged authorship through bureaucratic maneuvering: “I argued that imperial scholars shouldn’t compose praise for warlords.” He shifted responsibility to Liu Qi, whom he dismissed as an opportunist “eager for official rewards.”

### Liu Qi’s Rebuttal
The youngest participant painted a scene of coercion. At a forced banquet, Yuan Haowen allegedly pressured him: “If you refuse, Cui will slaughter intellectuals—including your aged mother!” Liu insisted his draft was heavily edited, and the final version burned to conceal evidence.

### Yuan Haowen’s Indignation
The celebrated poet denied authorship entirely, comparing himself to wronged historical figures: “Like Lu Ji under the tyrant Zhao Wang, I’m slandered for words I never wrote!” He accused Liu Qi of accepting Cui’s bribes—including an honorary “jinshi” degree.

Cultural Trauma: The Confucian Crisis

This episode exposed fault lines in Jin intellectual society:

1. The Scholar-Official’s Paradox
– Ideal: “Death before dishonor” (方孝孺 refusing to legitimize Yongle’s usurpation)
– Reality: Most chose survival, like Tang Dynasty officials serving Empress Wu

2. Collective vs. Individual Honor
– Traditional historiography demanded clear moral judgments
– These accounts reveal nuanced human calculations under duress

3. The Aftermath
– Wang Ruoxu died in self-imposed exile
– Yuan Haowen became a cultural icon despite the scandal
– Liu Qi’s reputation never fully recovered

The Violent Epilogue: Cui Li’s Demise

History delivered poetic justice. In June 1234, a coalition of disillusioned officers—including Li Boyuan, inspired by a Buddhist monk—ambushed Cui Li. After stabbing him through his own hand in fury, Li paraded Cui’s corpse through Kaifeng, where citizens devoured the dictator’s heart. The infamous stele, if ever erected, was likely destroyed in the frenzy.

Legacy: Why This Obscure Episode Matters

1. Human Nature Under Extremity
The episode resists easy moral categorization, revealing how even elites compromise under terror.

2. Historiographical Challenges
With no surviving stele text, the controversy remains unresolved—a Rorschach test for scholars across dynasties.

3. Modern Parallels
From Vichy France to occupied Warsaw, the Cui Li stele debate prefigures collaborationsim debates worldwide.

As the Jin Dynasty crumbled, three men’s struggle with a single stone tablet illuminated the eternal conflict between survival and integrity—a gray zone where history rarely offers clean verdicts.