Writers › Writer / Poet
Shen Defu
Late Ming writer from Jiaxing whose Wanli Yehuo Bian records the lore of the Wanli court, including drama and popular music.
Mural of the cultural record “Shifan Ensembles”, which this person is tied to.
Also known as Zi Jingqian · Zi Huchen
- Roles
- Writer / Poet
Shen Defu, styled Jingqian or Huchen, came from Xiushui in Jiaxing, Zhejiang. Raised in Beijing in an official family, he knew the court and capital closely, and passed the provincial examination in 1618. His Wanli Yehuo Bian, in twenty juan with a ten-juan sequel, records Ming institutions, people, customs and the arts; its entries on qu and popular music, including the percussion-and-wind ensemble called shiyangjin, are a key source for Ming music. He also wrote the Guqu Zayan and Bizhou Xuan Shengyu.
Life and times
Dates 1578–1642