Su Xiaoxiao () (c.479 – c.501), sometimes by the appellation "Little Su", was a famous

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

courtesan Courtesan, in modern usage, is a euphemism for a "kept" mistress (lover), mistress or prostitute, particularly one with wealthy, powerful, or influential clients. The term historically referred to a courtier, a person who attended the Royal cour ...

and

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

from Qiantang City (now

Hangzhou Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the province, sitting at the head of Hangzhou Bay, whi ...

Zhejiang Province Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiangs ...

) in the

Southern Qi Dynasty Qi, known in historiography as the Southern Qi ( or ) or Xiao Qi (), was a Chinese imperial dynasty and the second of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties era. It followed the Liu Song dynasty and was succeede ...

. She had a sister named Su Pannu.

Life and career

Well known for her intellectual talent and great beauty, Su Xiaoxiao pursued the values of love, beauty and humanity, as reflected in her writing and in popular stories. There are many stories attached to the life of Su Xiaoxiao, with no way of knowing the historical accuracy of any single story. One such story has her meeting a young scholar travelling in a state of dire poverty, hoping to reach the capital to sit the official examinations. She gave the scholar several nuggets of silver from her purse, but sadly he never returned to her after completing the examinations. In any event, it seems that she did not wish to be a man's wife or mistress, preferring to share her beauty with the common people while showing a certain contempt for the wealthy. In her late teens, Su Xiaoxiao developed a terminal illness, during which she took the view that heaven was giving her the special opportunity to leave a legacy of beauty in her memory through her death at a young age. She died at a mere 19 years of age. For more than a thousand years, her tomb was situated at the Xilin Bridge beside her beloved

West Lake West Lake (; ) is a freshwater lake in Hangzhou, China. It is divided into five sections by three causeways. There are numerous temples, pagodas, gardens, and natural/artificial islands within the lake. Gushan (孤山) is the largest natural is ...

. Su Xiaoxiao's life and poetry provided much inspiration for later Chinese writers and artists. She was the romantic heroine of

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

poets

Bai Juyi Bai Juyi (also Bo Juyi or Po Chü-i; ; 772–846), courtesy name Letian (樂天), was a renowned Chinese poet and Tang dynasty government official. Many of his poems concern his career or observations made about everyday life, including as g ...

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Wen Tingyun Wen Tingyun (; 812–870) born Wen Qi (), courtesy name Feiqing () was a Chinese poet. He was an important Chinese lyricist of the late Tang Dynasty. He was born in Qi, Shanxi province, China. Over his literary career, Wen became regarded ...

, and

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

writer Zhang Dai, also the heroine of the story "Romantic Trails of Xilin" in ''Fine Stories of the West Lake''. A woodcut of unknown provenance was used to illustrate porcelain objects during the

and early

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

. The woodcut was based on the short story "Dreaming of Qiantang", which told of the scholar Sima Yu, who, while visiting Hangzhou, wrote a poem about a dream he had in which Su Xiaoxiao was brought by three gusts of wind to come and sing at his window. Su was also a frequent figure for portrayal in Chinese theater. Su Xiaoxiao's tomb was destroyed during the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal ...

, but it was rebuilt in 2004, complete with a brand new pavilion decorated with twelve poetry posts handwritten by famous calligraphers. The current tomb is empty. Su Xiaoxiao's tomb is now again a major tourist site in Hangzhou. Since the pavilion the tomb is hosted under is named Mucaiting, which could be misread phonetically as Mocaiting (touch for wealth), many tourist walk by would purposefully touch or throw coins on the tomb for hope of wealth and prosperity. Su Xiaoxiao is also the heroine of TV series ''Loving Courtesan Su Xiaoxiao''.

Poem by Su Xiaoxiao

This poem is variously known as "Song of the West Tomb", "Song of Xiling Lake", "Song of Su Xiaoxiao" (in a collection of

Music Bureau The Music Bureau (Traditional Chinese: 樂府; Simplified Chinese: 乐府; Hanyu Pinyin: ''yuèfǔ'', and sometimes known as the "Imperial Music Bureau") served in the capacity of an organ of various imperial government bureaucracies of China: dis ...

poems) and "Song of the Same Heartbeat". It became very well known and inspired many future poets including those named above. In the original text, the poem is a quatrain composed of four lines of five words each. :, :, :, :。 :''I ride in a decorated carriage,'' :''My darling rides a blue-white horse.'' :''Where should we tie the knot for our heart?'' :''Under the Xiling pine and cypress.''

In media

In 1962, Chinese director, Lee Sun-fung, directed a film about Su Xiaoxiao called Su Xiaoxiao, or Miss Su in some areas. Malaysian born actress Yan Pak played the title role. '' A Su Xiaoxiao '', poem dedicated by the Italian writer Sabrina Gatti, in the collection '' La pioggia sui vetri '' (2011)

References

Sources

* * * Melangzhi : 西湖佳话 (''Fine Stories of West Lake'') /I * * Zhang Dai: 西湖梦寻(''Search The West Lake in Dreams'')

External links