Talent and Fate

z8r

Guan Daosheng and Huang E

=on on the part of

resen'ed, they have
::- compilers of the
rs as "shallow and
s5-211d claim she

However, these
,reli6-. It would apZheng
i:r s-omen. To what
more genefal develietermine, but Yang
sould seem to indireacted to the growri:g to bteak away
dons.
was known in later
ries-ed as a young
- esistence. Thus, an
:r lite to the followr-. deliberate:

:om het eadiest years

,:=on. But because her
c-as unhappy, and she

Apart from the few female poets from elite families whose collections
have been preserved, thete were mafly other women authots of comparable status from this period who were less fortunate and fot whom only
a handful of poems are ext^nt. Some of these 'womeri poets, such as
Guan Daosheng and Huang E, enjoyed considerable reputations during
their lifetimes. Guan Daosheng was the wife of the farnous painter, calligrapher, and poet Zhao Mengfii (r254-r3zz), and a major paintet, calligrapher, and poet in her own right. Huang E was the wife of the wellknown polymath Yang Shen Qa88-r559).

Artist andArtist's lYife: Caan Daosheng

Guan Daosheng's husband Zhao Mensfu was a native of \X/uxing, located about halfway between Suzhou znd Hangzhou. He .was a member
of the impedal family of the Song dynasty, established a teputation as the
finest painter of his age, and ear\ on held an official post under that dynasty. Following the flnal conquest of southern China tn o76-1278 by the
Mongols, he retired to the hills. Because of his fame, he was repeatedly
pressured to come to the capital, Dadu (present-day Beijing), and finally,
in o87, he made his first trip north to take up a post undet the Yuan dynasty (1260-1368). He soon returned to the south, but in n8g he zgatn
traveled north, this time accompanied by his young wife. Throughout his
lsfe Zhao Mengfu would feel totn between his loyalty to the pteceding
dvnasty and the attractions of honor and wealth, an ambivalence which
he often expressed in his poetry, but which did not stop him from pursuing a successful career.
Out most impoftant source for the life of Guan Daosheng is a gtave
inscdption wdtten by her husband. It was customary for such a text,
engraved in stone, to be buried with the coffin of the dsss2ssd-fu1
oi course it was usually also preserved in the collected writings of the
author.

,-r:r about her comtparently Later rczd: ttminine suffedng.

A Grave Inscription {orLady Guan, Lady of the State of

NTei

The personal name of the Lady was Daosheng, her surname was Guan, her style
.ime was ZhangSi, and she was a native of Wuxing. Her ancestors were scions

282

Talent and Fate

of Guan Zhong, who had fled the troubles in the state of Qi by coming

to
l7uxing.ts Because people considered them to be sages, the village where they
setded is still called Xrxian [Sages' Roost]. Her father's personal name was Shen
and his style name was zhifu; her mother was surnamed zhot. Sir Guan had an
eccefltric character, and was renowned throughout the village for his chivalry.
He had an extremely high opinion of his daughter who had shown herself to be
of extraordinary intelligence from the moment of her birth, and he was determined to find her a suitable match. I was Jiving in the same neighborhood, and
her father also held a high opinion of me. He was convinced that I would rise to
a high position, and so the Lady married me.
In the twenty-fourth year of the reign period ultimate Prime [Zhi1,uan, r27ttz94l, Emperor Shizu [Khubilai I{han] summoned me to court. From being a
common ciazen I was appointed Grand Master for Admonishment and Director in the Ministry of \Var. \x4ren in the t\r/enty-sixth year I returned on official
business to Hangzhou, the Lady accompanied me back to the capital. Later r
was appointed Secretary Serving in the Hall of Assembled Sages concurrently
Sewing as Prefect ofJinan. \x4ren Emperor chengzong summoned me to serve
in the Bureau of Historiography, the Lady agatn accompanied me. rff{hen I resigned my appointment because of illness, she returned with me to nfluxing. At
the end of my term as Inspector-General of Confucian Schools in
Jiangnan and
zheliang, I was appointed prefect of ratzhou. \x4een the present emperor was
still the crown prince, he dispatched an envoy to summon me, whereupon I was
appointed Reader in the Hanlin Academy. Again the Lady accompanied me to
the capital. This was in the winter of the third year of the reign period Ultimate
Greatness lzlida, r3o8-r3u]. In the following ye r, the empero( ascended the
thtone, and as a special mark of favor I was appointed Secretary in the Hall of
Assembled sages and Grand Master for Palace Attendance, while the Lady was
enfeoffed as Lady of the Commandery of \)7uxrng.
During the fitst year of the rergn period Imperial Blessing [Huangqing, r3lzt3r3], I requested leave to return home where I erected a stele on behalf of my
ancestors. Now the I-ady had wanred to name an heir to the Guan family as
there was no surviving adult son, but, unable to find a suitable person, she
turned the old family home into the Guan Family Household Daoist Shrine of
Filial Remembtance and assigned a Daoist priest to take care of the ancestral

and mod
sacrifice. :'-'l her father
Daoist S::--re'"
DurinE -,Ie oext Year' envo\:
the caPiul
again tbllorred me to

l'

frrppio.., [YanYou, t3r4-ryzo)

*re L
,fr. U*fr",\.'d"*Y, whjle
s-rm
of the State oi \(ei' In the
emDem
disease beriberi, and the

ts
I requested and obtained Pelil
\
twentY-fifth daY of the Foura
o- br
of tlre fiftf"t Month, after
old, succumbei :'- h
eight

to take her Pulse' In the slrtn

Years

\-cl
Together with our so::
c
tn. . .l daY of the ' ' ' \l::i
)sg
of Mount Dongheng r'
:-< I
had given birth to three '

hai :; sl
-'-::t=
.r.h of the four sitei"
-*'=-'' :d
she had no

daughters'The Ladr-

though
\\:-:: = t
erary comPosition'
!
,.lrti.r., and outsid;:s ::'-::r-

and the seasonal s;c:--:--- ='

-'' --i d
her illness' This she

a fiJl auaY of dishes' t' :-e d

would haPPen to bec

princes disputed over who would succeed to the throne.

cr!

:rcE
S4:ren she encountc:ii
:=:a
he:
In
anY stinginess'

'- n
would alwavs do s The LadY was dee:--'' icr

she

tens

of coPies of rhe

J;;rr

i-arnous monks'

The Son of Hearer '-'roer

:od then had iade car\-<- F

=e lmPerial
t5. Guan zhong (d. a+s ecr) was the most important minister of Duke Huan of ei
(r. 684-64 ecr) and greatly contributed to the growing power of
ei during this period.
Soon upon Duke Huan's death, however, Qi was devastated by civil war as various

=:

Ubran '' her

16' Funerary *ttt''='tll

sir
::e &aft of the docume:::
col
: r:nPilation of an author's

Talent and Fate

-: :=i of Qi by coming to
.,i=.. dte village where they
.:'. :ersonal name was Shen
---=: Zhou. Sir Guan had. an

---

:-.=:

-;rl[ags

for his chivalry.

:.-:d shown herself to be

_..=

theHanlinAcademy,-f-'if"tf""LadyvrasenfeoffedvriththehighetrankofLady
year she again fell ill with her old
of fie State of Nrei. In the winter of the fifth
physicians
dispatched a succession of imperial
disease beribed, and the empefol

: nrnme lLhlwan,DTr_

totakeherpulse.Inthesixthyear,whefltheillnesshadgrowne\'enmofeSevefe'
to return home' On the
I requested ^ra oUt "ti p*-i"io" from. the emperor Dadu' On the tenth day
departed from
twent,v-fifth day ofthe Foorth Month we
oftheFifthMonth,afterourboathadreachedLinqing'theLady'whowasfifty-

=.i : , courr. From being

'-:::- trushment and Direc_

- -1:_ I rerumed on official
. :_. :) me capltal. Later I
::-- :-=d Sages Concurrently
:_: : rrlmoned me to serve
: =-:::ued me. V4ren I re_
--=- ;:i me to Wuxing. At

.-:, -icrools inJiangnan and

:-- --::: Dresent empelor
was

'-:r :

:ne, whereupon I was

accompanied me to
=
: --:.. reign period Ultimate
-

--:

;j.'

::

..Record of the
have described in my
s:c::ices fot her father and mother, as I
D.oist Shdne."
the other' and the Lady once
During the next year, erlvoys xrived one-after
t'pf'A In the fourth yeat ofthe reign period Extended
ag.irn followed me to
of
'f"t
appointed as [one of the six] Chancellors
Happrness fYanyou, r3t4'-1e2o) I was

::rh,

and he was deter_

--:: :::lle nerghborhood,
and
r' -:_:=d rhat I would rise to
-__-

283

-mperor ascended the

S-cretary

in the Hall of

'=::.e. while the Lady was

: -:s.ing [Huangqing, r3rz_
:j: Srele on behalf of my

:.: :o the Guan family

as

.-.: : sLltable person, she

:.=nold Daoist Shrine of
1-:: care of the ancestral

eight years old, succumbed to her illness'

her casket back to N7uxrng' On

Together with our son Yong I escorted
foot
year \r/e buried her on the plain at the
the . . . day of the . ' ' Month of that
ofMountDorrglr.nginDeqingdistrict'allinaccotdance'viththedtes'16She
died in infancy], Yong, and Yi, and six
had given birtl-r to ,t r.. ,orr, t-ir.rg 1-tro
daughters.Th eLady#
each of the four wifery

in

o,.rn*r."u.h"etful disposition. She was impeccable

wotk' A1.rirto., of deportment, speech, features, and

thoughshehad.,oform'ttraining'ht*u'accomplishedincalligpaphyandlitregulating household affairs she treated

erary composition. \X4ren it came to
of both the yeady
faidy' she would pt"o"'[y take care
relatives and outsiders

andtheseasonalsacrificestotheancestors,unlesspreventedfromdoingsoby
herill-raess.Thisshewoulddointhemostpropermaflner'fherselfpreparing]
If any member of the clan
a ful). auay of dishes, while dressed in formal attire' case buy their freedom'
would in each
would happen to btto-" enslaved' she
need' she would provide for them without
V4ren she encountered someone in
and when dealing with problems'
any stingine... k, t"t t'eatment of guests
manner according to the rites'
she would always do so in a{t ^Pprcpnate
and she persolally wrote out
The Lady was deeply a""otta to Buddhism'.
for distribution to famous monasteries and
tens of copies of the b'iamond sutra
famous monks.

TheSonofHeavenorderedtheLadytowfiteouttheThousaadCharacterText,

andthenhadiadet'-*'polishiadeknobsforthescroll'whichhehadsentto
in the
h"t calligraphy could be mounted and included
the Imperial Library

'o

'-:-::-r of Duke Huan of

ei
,
=: , i Qi during this pedod.

:.::

11' civil war as vatious

budal'
prepared a long time before the actual
16. Funerary inscriptions often were

In

thedraftofthedocument,whichoftenservedasthebasisforthetextatthetimeofthe
compilationofanauthor,scoilectedworks,theexactdateofbudalwouldbeleftblank.

28+

Talent and Fate

collection. Then he also ordered me to write out this same text in six different
styles; Yong also wrote it out once. The emperor said: "In this way later generations will know that during our reign there lived a lady who was accomplished
in calJigraphy. It is also unusual that aL the members of a single fam1ly should be
accomplished in calligraphy." In addition, the Lady painted both monochrome
and colored paintings of bamboo for presentation to the throne, which also met
vrith the emperor's approbation, and for which she received a gSft of a jug of
wine of dre highest quality from the imperial store. When once the Lady was received in audience by the empress dowager in the Xingsheng Palace, she was ailowed to sit down and was honored with a meal-she was showered with favors. To be thus acknowledged by both the emperor and the empress dowager
was truly to bask in glory!
\,Xhen the Lady died, her relatives on both sides of the family were all deeply
moved, and alL those who had once enjoyed her company shed tears: from this
one cafl appreitate fhe extent of her virtue.

har-e been ereqr

Dadu (Yan.. Io d
otficial, burdenei
errnan in her hoo
I
From

a:-er,

Despite fie
The mouctr
The moraiq
It is al' :ecr

II

Gaz::rE sori
\\hen lrL I

Fame ard g
I'11 leare m I

It

was perhaps to avoid the charge that his wife was a bluestocking that
Zhao Mengfu stressed het natural, nther than acquired, talents for paint-

Smili::r fIl

ing, caliigraphy, and poetry. A fair numbet of paintings attributed to

Guan Daosheng have been preserved, but in many cases their authenticity is disputed. The few of her poems that are extant today have almost
without exception been preserved because they were inscribed on her

III
][v bo:;

L. I

Bur s-:-.r bs

paintings.

po,rglg.irr
]Iinc:.g trt!

Sent to My Husband: Painted Bamboo

I knoq-,rf o

The day you left, my lord and master, the bamboo had just been planted,
Now the bamboo has grown into a grove, but you have not yet retuffred.
Once my jade-white face has lost its beauty, it will be gone forever,
Unlike flowers that fall,, only later to blossom yet
and again.

I\I

The ::;::est

^golfl

But:,:'r

Painted Plum Trees

After the snow, white branches are frag1le,
Covered with frost, jade pistils are cold.
Yonder village is no place for them:
Move them to the moon for viewingl
Guan Daosheng's best-known poems are probabiy the four song lyrics
she wrote to the tune of "Fisherman's Song" (Yrrfrti). These lydcs were
otiginally wfitten as an inscription on one of her own paintings, said to

lg

Hol' c,ruld,
\\'i-.r: .;.d

So le:'s eo L

is not s;rprisir

and honors of d
lore. Hos-erer. I
:ccomparieC hir
,rf deem musr b
s'-av

behiic lr hi

Talent and Fale

:-r: 1n six different

-! ..-.-:.\' later genera:-.is accomplished

:-. :arnilv should be

:',-r

monochrome

-:=. '.r-hich also met

::+rtofaiugof
:: =e Ladv \r/as fe:

P''.ce. she rvas al=:--;-:red rrith fa-

==::ess dorrager

=--,-;;-:- Jl

:.: :.-::

deeph-

::Om thiS

285

have been executed sometime between r3ro and r3rz when she was
in
Dadu rr). In this set of lyrics, she contrasts the harried life of a court
official, burdened with obligations, with the carefree existence of a fisherman in her home district of \Wuxing:

I
Ftom afar,I think of my mountain cortage with its severar plum trees:
Despite the icy cold, jade brossoms open on their southern branches.
The mountain moon shines,
The morning wind blowsIt is all because of their pure fragrance that I so rong to return home!

II
Gazing south toward !7uxing, four thousand miles of road_
\)7hen will I be able to return to the banks of the river Zha?
Fame and profit

I'll

leave to Heaven,

Smiling,

I'11

fetch my angiing rod and board my fishing boat.

III
My body is here in the yan mountains near the imperial residence,
But with homesick heartl think of Wuxing by night and by day.
Pouring fine wine,

't\
.

"*

Mincing fresh fish:

I know of nothing to compare with that life of pure leisurel
--:-::

IV

.S

With a singie boat-

So let's go home, enjoy the moonlight, and chant in the breeze!

It is not surprising to find in a gtave inscription a cata\ogue of the virtues

and honors of the deceased, rathet than an impassioned declaration of

<
\ - - -.- _-:,
\ *l- :: -;:':

N--

The highest honor in human rife is the rank of prince or duke,

But for fleeting fame and passing ptofit one gives up freedom.
How could that compare

_:.

love. However, by so strongly emphasizing the fact that Guan Daosheng

accompanied him on a1l his travels, zhao Mengfu suggests that the
two
of them must have been very close. euite often an official,s wife would
stay behind in his home village in order to take care of her parents-in-law,

286

Talent and Fate

Iook after the family

esrate, and taise
the children, while
her husband,

,Ii..T#:::l,i:::T#.#.,ui'.,,,"i;;i"ilq,:*,op,ace
Iegend
popular, if .r,r,.r'ru,.,
(firsr writen ao*., 'rri;;;-. t: "ll

"try
once suggested to
Mengfu is said to
his wife that his ,ri?.:7n^?.
atus (and his wife's
the acquisiti
on

have
age) called for

of afew concubines:

Once, when Zhao

I

rowing,r".,,rl,.*.:il.-lT.TlT: j:,TJr;"&",fi
I

am a Secretary,

1lli,i"J;:.J?:.*1:.,

have heard that

t* nig hi, p.r.h L. af and,peach

Rooq
Secretary t" n11r:
r"r""*ti."Ol"o

Now if I could obtain

Maidens of $7u

,.i,-'""*

"

-. aheady:i:, ffiT:,.il::::

-"ju
yet rn

rhis jade halJ

Evening C.loud.17

You and I
ardent,
burns Iike fire.
Take one Iump of
clay
I(nead one you,
Sculpt one me.

It

Pieces,

t7. S;cretary Tao is

Tao Gu (ror_rro),
^, - to
rr*-.----...-...-..-.-.-.....-sion
*'" "decadent,,
the oulg
uLLa(renr court
- the
Song ovnasfy.
dynasry. On
cou. of &e
on a mis_
the Southern
southo
;^:ffr:?lof
Tlr
"^
he seemed ro be
, it rurned oo, h. was
a pillar o:
T"'alt
susceptibl' to .":|fl,lm',g},
au..a by

fl

*r.lu;d#':: f'mrl.nrr-;;;;.;;:;r;:

:;*T,"in'#:il:::[.,T#:i#J;::ft'.8dfl

fu

roung_liaifoq

eschange

pa

:xn: o_/'tbi

Su

Liu Sbi
eot esen Se
rer. rhe soq

clay there is you,

u;;."#;f

meuopolirr

ntt.

Knead another you,

Sculpt another
me:

Inmy

Eibi

dier to l'oq
tbrmer collc
aad Yeng q
&e time o r
genre. His r
and Hisroric
flrreng E
but atrer trr
rrhere she m

yo, ..iLl *ur;;i., onopolize

springl

#;;,':i

An

destined
wourd bent mv position.

Share an ardent passion.

W4ren passion is

Mix them

his inreati<x

ince. His

Lady Guan repried

as folowsr

Smash them both

lif
In&
\fhen her t

Huang E r
't449-r5ze)
'ra88-r55gl

you are aLadv.

you must
Secretary

In su
Io

Hm

riown and reC

colleccions c/

c=nrurs. t:or i
-az under hcr
;"rd become
=:-. Suzhou o
:tea-.ures of

=:a

t*:-,-h SOC

Talent and Fate

-de her husband,

place to place
if rather late,
:-: l. said to have
='= "Be) called for
:.-^,=

---,..

i- le rrrote the fol' r: ie matter:

l:-

]-:::On.
:

---;--_.:_.--

O::

=_.-

=a: : -- -: :'L: :
i-. :--:':s -:s't-.- -.r-.-= ;a:; :f__-:_:-i! \,r.-,_::-.- S_ ,

287

In your clay there is me.

In life you and I share a single covedet,
In death a single grave!
when her husband received this song, he laughed heartily and did not pursue
his intention any further.

An Exile's Wfe: HuangE

Huang E was the second daughter of the famous scholar Huang I(e
(r449-r5zz) and the secofld wife of the well-known exile Yang Shen
(ta88-t559). Yang Shen was a nattve of Xindu district in Sichuan province. His father had been a high cour official and he himself passed the
metropolitan examinations in ryn at the top of the list. He appeared to be
destined for a brllltant career, but in ry24 he provoked the ire of the
youngJiajing emperor (r. ryzz-t566) and was banished as a common soldiet to Yongchang in westernmost Yunnan. Despite the pleas of yang,s
former colleagues, the Jiajing emperor repeatedly refused to pardon him,
and Yang spent the rest of his life in fanway Yunnan, where he found
the time to write on every conceivable topic and in every known kterary
genre. His wife Huang E is said to have been "well read in the classics
and Histories, and a fine ptose writer."
Huang E had initially accompanied her husband to his place of exile,
but after the death of her father-in-law in r5z9 she returned to Xindu,
where she managed the family estate. She and het husband continued to
exchange poems. According to her biographical sketch in the collected Poems of tbe Sunexiae furgot (Liechao shxli) by
Qian Qianyi (r582-t664) and his
wife, Liu Shi, "she rady vryote shi poems, and did not leave a collection:
not evefr the younger members of the family ever saw her poems. However, the song lyrics and short songs she sent to Yang Shen were handed
down and recited by the ltterary crowd." And so not long atter her death,
collections of "het" works started to appe t. F;atJly in the seventeenth
century, for instance, a Suzhou publisher printed a collection of arias
(qu) ander her name. The qu is a more vernacular genre of song lyric that
had become popular in the thirteenth cenrury and later. The arias in
this Suzhou collection are unusual in their uninhibited description of the
pleasutes of love. \Mhen ofle compares the contents of this collection with those of Yang Shen, though, it is clear that the overwhelming