Writers › Writer / Poet
Wang Sengru
Liang-dynasty man of letters who began under Prince Jingling of Qi, rose to Censor-in-Chief, mastered genealogical learning, and has poems in the Jade Terrace anthology.
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 Courtesy name Sengru · Wang the Left Assistant
Wang Sengru came from Tanxian in Donghai (modern Tancheng, Shandong) and lived through the Qi and Liang. Under Qi he was an erudite at the Imperial Academy and joined the circle of Prince Jingling, Xiao Ziliang, helping compile the Siku Yaolue. Under Liang he served as governor of Nanhai, Censor-in-Chief and aide to the Prince of Nankang. The Book of Liang credits him with genealogical works such as the Shiba Zhou Pu. His thirty-scroll collected works are lost; a Ming editor reassembled them as the Wang Zuocheng Ji, and the Jade Terrace anthology preserves a number of his poems.
Life and times
- 465 CEBorn
Northern and Southern - 522 CEDied
Works
Literature · Poetry17- On a Moonlit Night, for Chen of Nankang and His New BeautyNorthern and SouthernWang Sengru on a friend's new beauty, whose face and the full moon light each other at the door
- Seeing a Nobleman Welcome His New Beauty, a Few Lines for the OccasionNorthern and SouthernWang Sengru teases a nobleman on his new beauty, closing on the tale of Xiangru and Wenjun
- Hearing a Neighbour Woman Weave at Night, with Censor SimaNorthern and SouthernWang Sengru and a friend hear a neighbour weaving at night and give voice to her longing
- Night Sorrow · Dew from the EavesNorthern and SouthernWang Sengru on a cold, sleepless night, when tears blur the eye until colours run together
- Grievance in a Spring BoudoirNorthern and SouthernWang Sengru on a woman too sad to dress her hair in spring, with no fish or goose to carry word
+12 more
- Pounding Cloth · As the Season's Pitch Pipes TurnNorthern and SouthernWang Sengru on a wife fulling cloth through the night, her pounding turned to music and longing
- Telling a Dream on Someone's BehalfNorthern and SouthernWang Sengru tells, for a friend, of a lovers' dream so real that waking left only emptiness
- For Someone: So Near, Yet Never MeetingNorthern and SouthernWang Sengru on lovers in one village kept apart, worse off than the Herd Boy and Weaving Girl
- In the Manner of 'Gathering Lovage', for the Former Concubine of Director HeNorthern and SouthernWang Sengru recasts an old song of a cast-off wife for a concubine her lord has replaced
- A Few Rhymes at the Wine Feast of Wang of Jin'anNorthern and SouthernWang Sengru on a singer at a feast whose clear songs and glances outshine the immortal maids
- A Love Gift Written for SomeoneNorthern and SouthernWang Sengru writes a gift poem for a friend, ranking his beloved with the famous singers of old
- The Grievance of Master He's ConcubineNorthern and SouthernWang Sengru gives voice to a neglected concubine, who shares a quilt yet lives worlds apart
- There Is One I Long For · Night Wind and FirefliesNorthern and SouthernWang Sengru takes up an old yuefu title for a singing girl whose wandering man never returns
- A Favoured Concubine's Grievance, Written for SomeoneNorthern and SouthernWang Sengru speaks for a favoured concubine who sees herself in a lone tree beaten by wind
- A Concubine Grieves for Herself, Written for HerNorthern and SouthernWang Sengru speaks for a concubine returning keepsakes, knowing a love gone cannot be held
- Autumn Boudoir Lament · Slanting Light on the West WallNorthern and SouthernWang Sengru on an autumn dusk in the women's rooms, where a deep love goes unnoticed
- On a Singing Girl · Back from the High HallNorthern and SouthernWang Sengru's favorite, made up to greet her lord, whose glance and smile are worth a fortune