Writers › Writer / Poet
Shen Fu
Qing-dynasty Suzhou writer whose autobiographical Six Records of a Floating Life movingly recounts his marriage and travels.
In a study at night, a desk holds a brush pot, a porcelain vase with a plum branch, a lit red lantern, a folded fan and an unrolled blank scroll, with no one seated there, while through a round window the moon rises over a lake with a sailboat.
Also known as Zi Sanbai · Hao Meiyi
- Roles
- Writer / Poet
Shen Fu, courtesy name Sanbai, was born in Changzhou (Suzhou) in 1763; the year of his death is unknown. He never held office, making his living as a private secretary, merchant and painter, and travelled widely through Jiangnan and Lingnan. His autobiographical Six Records of a Floating Life, of which four records survive, recalls his life with his wife Chen Yun with fresh and candid prose.
Life and times
Dates 1763 CE–death unknown