Xia Wanchun (; 4 October 163116 October 1647) was a
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 ...
poet and soldier. The son of
Xia Yunyi and a child prodigy, Xia began writing poetry at a young age and died aged 17 while resisting the Manchu invaders.
Biography
Xia Wanchun established himself as a prodigious poet from a young age. He began writing poetry at age seven and was a disciple of
Chen Zilong
Chen Zilong (; 16081647) was a Chinese poet, essayist and official active during the late Ming dynasty and early Qing dynasty.
Career
In 1630, while in Beijing, Chen was introduced to an elderly Xu Guangqi, who shared that he had been working o ...
. At age nine, Xia could already produce ''
fu'' verses in the ancient style.
[ Xia's '' ci'' poems are noted for their "enthusiasm and ]pathos
Pathos (, ; plural: ''pathea'' or ''pathê''; , for "suffering" or "experience") appeals to the emotions and ideals of the audience and elicits feelings that already reside in them. Pathos is a term used most often in rhetoric (in which it is c ...
",[ with one such poem titled "Plucking Mulberries" reading:
At age 15, alongside his father, Xia joined the army in its anti-]Qing
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-speaki ...
campaign. He wrote of the fallen Ming soldiers: "Men of wisdom are dispersed like clouds, the state lies in ruins, alas! I have written eighteen ''jueju'' poems, and the pathos of these short songs exceeds that of any long lament. Only those endowed with ''qing
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-speaki ...
'' are able to speak like this!"[
]
References
1631 births
1647 deaths
17th-century Chinese poets
{{DEFAULTSORT:Xia, Wanchun