Writers › Writer / Poet
Hong Zikui
Southern Song official and poet from Yuqian, jinshi of 1202 and Minister of Justice, named Wenzhong; Qian Zhongshu's anthology includes four of his poems.
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 Shun Yu · Pingzhai
Hong Zikui, courtesy name Shunyu and styled Pingzhai, came from Yuqian (today's Lin'an, Hangzhou) and was born in 1176. He passed the jinshi in 1202, served as registrar, instructor and judge at Chengdu, and at court as Imperial Library Secretary, Censor and Secretariat drafter, finally rising to Minister of Justice. He died in 1236 and was named Wenzhong. His Pingzhai Wenji runs to thirty-two scrolls; his poetry, close to the Jiangxi school, shows Yang Wanli's influence, and Qian Zhongshu selected four poems.
Life and times
Dates 1176 CE–1236 CE