Liu Zongyuan
Li Yu was said to be solemn and careful beyond his years even when he was a child, and after he grew up, he became studious in both the Confucian classics and history. As he admired the Spring and Autumn period statesman Yan Ying, he initially named himself Li Yanping (as Yan had the posthumous name of Ping). His writing was in a style that emphasized integrity, taking on attributes of the writings of Han Yu and Liu Zongyuan. He came to emphasize, for himself, proper conduct and careful speech.