Madame Huarui
Madame Huarui | |||
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Chinese | 花蕊夫人 | ||
Literal meaning | Lady Flower Bud | ||
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Consort Xu (徐惠妃) (c. 940 – 976) was a concubine of Later Shu's emperor Meng Chang during imperial China's Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. More commonly known as Madame Huarui (花蕊夫人), she was also a notable poet.
When Emperor Taizu of Song defeated Meng Cheng, Madame Huarui was captured. Emperor Taizu had heard of her fame as a poet and asked her to compose a poem for him. Madame Huarui immediately sang (as translated by Anthony C. Yu):[1][2]
君王城上竪降旗 | The king on the rampart flies the white flag. | |
妾在深宮那得知 | Deep within the palace how could I know? | |
十四萬人齊解甲 | One hundred forty thousand all disarmed! | |
更無一個是男兒 | Among these was there not a single man? |
References[]
- ^ Quan Tangshi, ch. 798.
- ^ Chang & Saussy, p. 85.
Sources[]
- (in Chinese) Quan Tangshi (全唐詩) [Complete Tang Poems]. 1705.
- Chang, Kang-i Sun; Saussy, Haun, eds. (1999). Women Writers of Traditional China: An Anthology of Poetry and Criticism. Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-804-73231-0.
- Rexroth, Kenneth; Chung Ling (1972). The Orchid Boat: Women Poets of China. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company.
- "Huarui Furen", Mountain Songs, last accessed June 8, 2007
External links[]
Categories:
- Chinese women poets
- Song dynasty poets
- Later Shu poets
- 940 births
- 976 deaths
- Writers from Chengdu
- Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms imperial consorts
- Later Shu people
- Poets from Sichuan
- 10th-century Chinese poets
- 10th-century Chinese women
- 10th-century Chinese people
- 10th-century Chinese women writers
- Chinese concubines