Shen Fu (; 26 December 1763 – after 1825),

courtesy name A courtesy name (), also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name. This practice is a tradition in the East Asian cultural sphere, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.Ulrich Theo ...

Sanbai (), was a Chinese writer of the

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 ...

, best known for his autobiography '' Six Records of a Floating Life''.

Life

Shen Fu was born in Changzhou (长洲, in

Suzhou Suzhou (; ; Suzhounese: ''sou¹ tseu¹'' , Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Soochow, is a major city in southern Jiangsu province, East China. Suzhou is the largest city in Jiangsu, and a major economic center and focal point of trad ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with it ...

province) in 1763. He was known as a great writer and wrote one of the best known descriptions of everyday life during the

, '' Six Records of a Floating Life''. In this text, which was completed in 1807, Shen Fu describes the gentle personality of his wife, Chen Yun (), and his love for her. He also chronicles the rejection of Chen Yun by his parents and her untimely death. Shen Fu was a government clerk, a ''

yamen A ''yamen'' (''ya-men''; ; Manchu: ''yamun'') was the administrative office or residence of a local bureaucrat or mandarin in imperial China. A ''yamen'' can also be any governmental office or body headed by a mandarin, at any level of gover ...

'' private secretary. An English translation of ''Six Records of a Floating Life'' is available as a Penguin paperback. It is considered a great classic of Chinese literature. A more recent translation, also easily available, is Graham Sanders' translation as ''Six Records of a Life Adrift.''Six Records of A Life Adrift, translated, with introduction and notes by Graham Sanders (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Co, 2011)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shen, Fu 1763 births 1820s deaths Qing dynasty novelists Writers from Suzhou Chinese male novelists