Wang Wei (; 1597–1647), also known by her

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 Theobald ...

Xiuwei (), was a Chinese

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 ...

, poet, and traveller during the late

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 ...

Biography

Nothing is known of her family background. At age seven, when Wang's father died, she was orphaned. She was taken in by somebody in the

brothel A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub par ...

district of

Yangzhou Yangzhou, postal romanization Yangchow, is a prefecture-level city in central Jiangsu Province (Suzhong), East China. Sitting on the north bank of the Yangtze, it borders the provincial capital Nanjing to the southwest, Huai'an to the north, Yan ...

and trained to be a courtesan. The training included literacy and artistic skills. During this time she developed a friendship with another courtesan, Yang Wan, the two calling themselves "sworn sisters". Wang referred to herself as the "Straw-coated Daoist". As a courtesan she travelled by

skiff A skiff is any of a variety of essentially unrelated styles of small boats. Traditionally, these are coastal craft or river craft used for leisure, as a utility craft, and for fishing, and have a one-person or small crew. Sailing skiffs have devel ...

between

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 trade ...

and Kuaiji (now Shaoxing). The boat carried many books and she was often accompanied by well known literary figures of the day, including

Zhong Xing Zhong Xing (1574-1625) was a late-Ming scholar. "He never rose beyond a minor official position but was a best-selling critic of poetry." He became the founder of the Jingling school of poetry, which valued originality over imitation. From 1614 ...

and

Tan Yuanchun Tan Yuanchun (譚元春/谭元春, 1586-1637) was a prolific late-Ming scholar from Hubei. Tan Yuanchun's work remains as an important resource for modern scholars. He was an influential and best-selling author critic. Tan is known as one of the "M ...

, founders of the Jingling school of poetry. She also travelled to

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 ...

in Wulin (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 ...

), a hotspot for literati at the time, and as far as

Hunan Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to ...

. Wishing to change her life, she turned to Buddhism and started to travel, dressed in a simple cotton robe. During her travels she climbed to the peaks of mount Dabie, Mount Xuan,

Mount Tianzhu Tianzhu Mountain or Mount Tianzhu () is a mountain in Anhui, China. Tianzhu Mountain is also called Mount Wan (), from which the provincial abbreviation for Anhui ("Wan") derives. Ancient names of the mountain include Mount Huo 霍山, Mount Hen ...

, Mount Kuang and Mount Lu. After travelling she settled in Wulin. She intended to spend the rest of her life there and prepared a tomb for her eventual death. As the

began to crumble, the time became chaotic and Wang was raped in the early 1640s, after which she turned away from Buddhism. Wang married a Censorate official, . Xu was a man of integrity, and was later dismissed from his post after disagreements with the

Chongzhen Emperor The Chongzhen Emperor (; 6 February 1611 – 25 April 1644), personal name Zhu Youjian (), courtesy name Deyue (),Wang Yuan (王源)，''Ju ye tang wen ji'' (《居業堂文集》), vol. 19. "聞之張景蔚親見烈皇帝神主題御諱字德� ...

. The couple were uprooted after Ming fell in 1644, and moved around the south. Although the couple vowed to live and die together, when Wang died of an illness in 1647, Xu lived on to mourn her.

Writing

Wang was a writer and anthologist of

travelogues Travelogue may refer to: Genres * Travel literature, a record of the experiences of an author travelling * Travel documentary A travel documentary is a documentary film, television program, or online series that describes travel in general or t ...

.Xu (1909), "王微常經船載書往來五湖問自傷". Tina Lu has argued that nature was only the secondary topic of her work, with the primary focus being a, 'landscape of nostalgia,' that Wang used to express her identity as a traveller. She wrote several hundred travelogues. These may have been part of a commercial venture catering to the late Ming travel boom. One of her works, ''Ming shan ji'' (Records of the Famous Mountains), ran to several hundred chapters. Her poetry appears in the anthology of late Ming-early Qing female poets ''Zhong Xiang Ci''. Wang's shi poems were described by

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 ...

commentators as comparable to those of

Li Qingzhao Li Qingzhao (1084 – ca. 1155), alias Yian Jushi (Chinese: 易安居士) was a Chinese poet and essayist during the Song dynasty. She is considered one of the greatest poets in Chinese history. Biography Early life Li Qingzhao was born in ...

and

Zhu Shuzhen Zhu Shuzhen (; 1135 – 1180) was a Chinese poet who lived during the Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of So ...

in their beauty and serenity.

References

Notes

Works cited

* * * * * * * *

External links

Wang Wei in the ''Ming Qing Women's Writings'' Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wang, Wei 1597 births 1647 deaths 17th-century Chinese women writers 17th-century Chinese writers Ming dynasty courtesans Chinese travel writers Chinese women poets Ming dynasty poets Poets from Jiangsu Writers from Yangzhou