Writers › Writer / Poet
Chen Ke
Poet-lyricist of the Northern-to-Southern Song transition from Linhai, close in manner to Wen Tingyun and Wei Zhuang, who refused to submit in the 1137 Luzhou mutiny and was killed.
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 Gao · Recluse of Chicheng
Chen Ke, courtesy name Zigao and styled Recluse of Chicheng, came from Linhai in Taizhou, Zhejiang, and was born around 1081. He served as a compiler at the Edict Office and later on Lü Zhi's staff. In 1137 he went with Lü Zhi to Luzhou to take over the troops of Wang De and Li Qiong; when the soldiers mutinied and killed Lü, they demanded Chen's submission, and he rebuked them and was killed. His lyrics are elegant and graceful, close to Wen Tingyun and Wei Zhuang and praised by Chen Tingzhuo; his works include the Tiantai Ji and a Changduanju.
Life and times
Dates Born c. 1081 CE; killed in 1137 CE