Writers › Writer / Poet
He Zhu
Northern Song ci poet, courtesy name Fanghui, nicknamed 'Plum He' for a line in Qing yu an, author of the Dongshan ci.
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 Fanghui · Old Man of Qinghu · Plum Fruit He
He Zhu, courtesy name Fanghui and styled Old Man of Qinghu, was a native of Shanyin in Yuezhou who was born in Weizhou; he lived from 1052 to 1125. He entered office at seventeen by hereditary privilege, served as military-depot gate supervisor and as vice prefect of Sizhou and Taipingzhou, and retired in 1109 to live out his years at Suzhou. His ci show great range and a craftsman's polish, often reworking old yuefu and Tang lines; Qing yu an and Liuzhou getou are his best known, and over two hundred of his lyrics survive in the Dongshan ci.
Life and times
Dates 1052 CE–1125 CE