Skip to main content

Early Women Writers

Yu xuanji

Item

Author

Yu xuanji

Location

Chang'an (Xi'an)

Dates

844-868

Biography

One of the most famous female poets of the Tang dynasty, Yu Xuanji started as a concubine, but later entered a Daoist nunnery and composed varied and diverse works that influence contemporary authors today.

Works

50 poems and discussion of courtesan relationships

Languages

Mandarin

Genres

Poetry, Conduct, Propriety

Editions and Translations

Kang-i Sun Chang and Haun Saussy. Women Writers of Traditional China. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1999.

Item sets

Site pages