As the fall of the Southern Tang loomed, Li remained unaware of just how near the enemy had drawn until the Song troops had Jinling totally encircled. In the end he walked out the city gates together with his ministers of state to proffer his final surrender wearing only a simple white gown, a stark symbol of surrender akin in Chinese culture to the act of running up a white flag.
在宋軍已經將金陵城團團圍住時，後主還蒙在鼓裡，最終只能與群臣一身白衣，出城請降。