Wu Zao
Wu Zao was a Chinese poet. She was also known as Wu Pinxiang
and Yucenzi.The daughter of a merchant, she was born in the town of Renhe in Zhejiang province. She married a merchant named Huang. Her contemporaries were wont to point out that her husband and father had "never even glanced at a book".
She was famous as a lyrics writer, in which she was considered one of the best of the Qing dynasty. She also wrote poetry in the sanqu form. She was said to be a good player of the qin, a stringed instrument. Wu wrote an opera Yinjiu du Sao, also known as Qiaoying. Two collections of her works were published: Hualian ci and Xiangnan xuebei ci. She became a student of the poet Chen Wenshu.
She was one of a number of early nineteenth-century women poets who wrote about the novel Dream of the Red Chamber.
Wu converted to Buddhism later in life.Translations
Several of her works have been translated into English, notably by Anthony Yu.
