Wu Zao

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Wu.

Wu Zao (Chinese: 吴藻; 1799 – 1862) was a Chinese poet. She was also known as Wu Piangxiang.[1]

The daughter of a merchant, she was born in the town of Renhe in Zhejiang province. She married a merchant[1] named Huang. She was famous as a lyrics (ci) writer and was considered to be one of the best ci poets of the Qing dynasty. She also wrote poetry in the sanqu form. She was said to be a good player of the qin, a stringed instrument.[2] Wu wrote an opera (zaju) Yinjiu du Sao (Drinking wine and studying: Encountering Sorrow).[1] Two collections of her works were published: Hualian ci (Flower curtain lyrics) and Xiangnan xuebei ci (Lyrics from Xiangnan xuebei). She became a student of the poet Chen Wenshu. Wu converted to Buddhism later in life.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Barnstone, Tony; Chou, Ping (2010). The Anchor Book of Chinese Poetry: From Ancient to Contemporary. pp. 341–42. ISBN 0307481476.
  2. ↑ Ho, Clara Wing-chung (1998). Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women. pp. 234–36. ISBN 0765618273.