Xu Zihua (; 1873–1935) was a Chinese poet. She was educated at home and interested in poetry from an early age. She became a widow when she was still young and became the principal of Xunxi Girls' School. Both she and her sister Xu Yunhua were part of the South Association. In 1906, she hired Qiu Jin, an anti-

Qing Empire 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 ...

revolutionary and poet, as an assistant. They quickly became close friends. Together with Qiu Jin, Xu Zihua started the magazine ''Chinese Women's News'', which published about issues that were at the time considered radical feminist, such as self-education, child education, Western-style healthcare, and economic self-sufficiency. Both Wu Zhiying and Xu Zihua contributed to Qiu Jin a lot on her road of feminism, and at the same time they were also affected by Qiu Jin's ideas about equality between men and women. Qiu Jin was executed in 1907. Four months after her execution, Wu Zhiying send a message to Xu Zihua to discuss the process of Qiu Jin's wish to be buried in Xiling and to help arrange her funeral. Several thousand people came and it turned into a public protest. Both Xu Zihua and the other chief mourner, Wu Zhiying, were on the Qing government's wanted list. Still, Xu Zihua continued to compose poems and essays in Qiu Jin's memory. During this process, her daughter became ill with Diphtheria. The tragedy Xu Zihua encountered greatly affected her health in both body and spirit. Her life after meeting Qiu Jin was dedicated to the revolutionary cause and to writing poetry about ideology and about parting with her daughter and her best friend Qiu Jin. Her poetry is collected in ''Xu Zihua shiwen ji''. Dec. 9th, 1912, after reconstructs of the Fengyuting, Xu Zihua requests of revolutionary leader

Sun Yat-sen Sun Yat-sen (; also known by several other names; 12 November 1866 – 12 March 1925)Singtao daily. Saturday edition. 23 October 2010. section A18. Sun Yat-sen Xinhai revolution 100th anniversary edition . was a Chinese politician who serve ...

to give condolence to Qiu Jin's grave and write her a brief couplet to compliment her heroic deeds. Xu Zihua died in 1935, leaving one surviving son, Mei Xin.

References

External links

"Xu Xihua", Renditions, A Chinese-English Translation Magazine, last accessed June 9, 2007"Qiu Jin", @Everything2.com, last accessed June 9, 2007
Chinese women poets Qing dynasty poets Republic of China poets Chinese feminists 1873 births 1935 deaths 20th-century Chinese women writers 20th-century Chinese writers 19th-century Chinese women writers 19th-century Chinese writers Writers from Jiaxing Poets from Zhejiang {{china-writer-stub