Writers › Writer / Poet
Shen Shanbao
Qing-dynasty woman poet of Qiantang whose Remarks on Poetry by Famous Ladies made her a leader of women's literary circles in Beijing.
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 Xiangpei · Hao Xihu Sanren
- Roles
- Writer / Poet
Shen Shanbao, courtesy name Xiangpei, was from Qiantang (Hangzhou). Losing her father young, she supported her family by selling poems and paintings, and at about thirty became the second wife of Wu Lingyun of Lai'an, following him to the capital. Around 1839 she formed the Autumn Red Poetry Society with Gu Taiqing and other women writers, and their friendship became a celebrated bond in Qing women's letters. Besides her collected poems and lyrics, her Remarks on Poetry by Famous Ladies preserves the work and lives of many Qing women poets.
Life and times
Dates 1808–1862 CE