A talented and famous poet, Cai Wenji was born around AD 177 in Chenliu, in present day Kaifeng, Henan Province. Cai was born into an intellectual family. She was the only child and daughter of Cai Yong—a Han minister, a well-known writer, poet, and a master calligrapher. In ancient China, not many women had the opportunity of learning to read and write, unless they were daughters of high officials and nobles. Cai was born into such a family, it was thus natural for her father to pass on his knowledge and the art of calligraphy to his only child. Cai grew up influenced by her environment, she studied and immersed herself in literature and arts. She was accomplished in calligraphy, history, literature, and music. But Cai's life was marked with tragedies. At 15, Cai married her first husband, who died shortly after the wedding. One story has it that the emperor, unimpressed with her father's warnings about the future of the Han when the Han Dynasty was on the verge of collapse, had sent Cai Yong back to his house outside of Chang'an city. When the Xiongnu tribe attacked Chang'an, Cai was kidnapped and forced to marry a Xiongnu chieftain. While in captivity, she composed her famous piece, the "Eighteen Lamentation" that was performed on the Guqin or Chinese zither. Twelve years later, the Han general Cao cao who was a friend of her father, paid a thousand pieces of gold and jade to negotiate for her return. Upon her return to China, Cai married her third spouse. She then fulfilled her father's wish by finishing the compilation of the history of the Later Han Dynasty. According to one story, Cai helped to reclaim a portion of her father's writings that were destroyed during the war-torn era. Cai was able to recite from memory about four hundred of the four thousand of her father's lost works. Cai continued to compose poetry but her poems were sorrowful, nostalgic, and poignant—mostly dwelling on the misfortunes in her life. In the five-character "Poem of Sorrow and Anger," she wrote: My dwelling is often covered by frost and snow,The foreign winds bring again spring and summer; They gently blow into my robes, And chillingly shrill into my ear; Emotions stirred, I think of my parents,Whilst I draw a long sigh of endless sorrows. Whenever guests visit from afar,I would often make joy of their tidings; I lost no time in throwing eager questions,Only to find that the guests were not from my home town. Like father, like daughter—Cai was also an accomplished calligrapher. Many of her compositions were extolled along with her father's works of art. Her legacy has been preserved in an ancient Chinese painting from the Jin Dynasty, in modern Chinese play, Beijing opera, and even in the Dynasty Warriors and Romance of the Three Kingdoms video games. By Margaret Trey, PhD

• published: 12 Jan 2013
• views: 200

A talented and famous poet, Cai Wenji was born around AD 177 in Chenliu, in present day Kaifeng, Henan Province. Cai was born into an intellectual family. She was the only child and daughter of Cai Yong—a Han minister, a well-known writer, poet, and a master calligrapher. In ancient China, not many women had the opportunity of learning to read and write, unless they were daughters of high officials and nobles. Cai was born into such a family, it was thus natural for her father to pass on his knowledge and the art of calligraphy to his only child. Cai grew up influenced by her environment, she studied and immersed herself in literature and arts. She was accomplished in calligraphy, history, literature, and music. But Cai's life was marked with tragedies. At 15, Cai married her first husband, who died shortly after the wedding. One story has it that the emperor, unimpressed with her father's warnings about the future of the Han when the Han Dynasty was on the verge of collapse, had sent Cai Yong back to his house outside of Chang'an city. When the Xiongnu tribe attacked Chang'an, Cai was kidnapped and forced to marry a Xiongnu chieftain. While in captivity, she composed her famous piece, the "Eighteen Lamentation" that was performed on the Guqin or Chinese zither. Twelve years later, the Han general Cao cao who was a friend of her father, paid a thousand pieces of gold and jade to negotiate for her return. Upon her return to China, Cai married her third spouse. She then fulfilled her father's wish by finishing the compilation of the history of the Later Han Dynasty. According to one story, Cai helped to reclaim a portion of her father's writings that were destroyed during the war-torn era. Cai was able to recite from memory about four hundred of the four thousand of her father's lost works. Cai continued to compose poetry but her poems were sorrowful, nostalgic, and poignant—mostly dwelling on the misfortunes in her life. In the five-character "Poem of Sorrow and Anger," she wrote: My dwelling is often covered by frost and snow,The foreign winds bring again spring and summer; They gently blow into my robes, And chillingly shrill into my ear; Emotions stirred, I think of my parents,Whilst I draw a long sigh of endless sorrows. Whenever guests visit from afar,I would often make joy of their tidings; I lost no time in throwing eager questions,Only to find that the guests were not from my home town. Like father, like daughter—Cai was also an accomplished calligrapher. Many of her compositions were extolled along with her father's works of art. Her legacy has been preserved in an ancient Chinese painting from the Jin Dynasty, in modern Chinese play, Beijing opera, and even in the Dynasty Warriors and Romance of the Three Kingdoms video games. By Margaret Trey, PhD

• published: 12 Jan 2013
• views: 200