Shen Queying: A Reform Martyr’s Widow or a Martyress of Her Own Causes?

Abstract

AbstractThe late Qing woman poet Shen Queying (1877–1900) had lived in the shadow of her husband, the reform martyr Lin Xu (1875–98). This paper subverts the conventional portrayal of Shen Queying as a chaste widow through reading her poems and song-lyrics in comparison with the poetic works of Lin Xu, to show that she herself was a reformer in her own right, and in this she was Lin Xu’s vocal soul-mate rather than his mute wife and then widow. In her poems and song-lyrics, Shen Queying made clear that she had endeavored in poetic learning for expressing “the grand ambition of a racing steed,” and her poetry sent unmistakable message to become a political player herself in China’s reform era, fighting for the welfare of the country and the people. For some subtle reasons, however, she was not able to fulfill this ambition by personally participating in the reform activities. Frustrated, she resolved to be a supporter and protector of her husband. Precisely because Shen Queying had put so much of her reform ideal into her husband’s career, the execution of Lin Xu fell on her as a double blow. Her pining away to death, although conforming to a seemingly late imperial lienu model, transcends this traditional image and bears a clear mark of the reform era, when a woman tied her personal life closely to the destiny of the country and the people.