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Chu Shu-chen (fl. 1200) grew up in Hangchou in a family that produced a number of officials. Her uncle was the great neo-Confucian philosopher Chu Hsi (1130–12o0). She was somewhat of a prodigy herself as a young girl, and as a result of her family background she received an unusually good education. After she married she moved to Suchou. But her marriage was not a happy one and her husband was often away. She was also a skilled musician and calligrapher, but her fame rested on her poems, especially those employing the voice of the abandoned woman. The houses of the rich included a series of courtyards, and the place where the wife lived would have been in the back, hidden from the view of visitors. The pairs of birds remind Chu of her own isolation, and the disappearance of the signs of spring of her own fading beauty. This part of China, near the Yangtze Delta, is known for its hot, humid summers.

Impressions

CHU SHU-CHEN

Swaying bamboo shadows shade my secluded window

summer birds chatter in pairs in the sunset

begonias have faded and willow fuzz has flown

the enervating days are starting to get longer