Wang Duan (1793–1839; 1838 is also given as her death year) was a Qing-dynasty woman poet from Qiantang, Zhejiang. Her style name was Yunzhuang (允莊), and her sobriquet was Xiaoyun (小韞); the style name also appears as 允荘, while Huanhuage (環花閣) and Ziranhaoxuezhai (自然好學齋) were used as studio names or sobriquets, alongside Xiaoyun (小蘊), Laihan (來涵), and Xinche (心澈).
Life
Her father was 汪瑜, her great-grandfather 汪光瑜, and her maternal grandfather 梁師正; her elder brother was 汪潭, her elder sister 汪筠, her maternal aunt 梁德繩, and her son 陳葆庸. She married 陳裴之 after reaching marriageable age; he was a son of 陳文述 and an expectant tongzhi in Hubei. He was born in 1794 and died in 1826.
She could write poetry from childhood. At seven, she composed the poem 《春雪詩》; contemporaries considered it no less accomplished than the work associated with “willow catkins moved by the wind,” and the episode gave rise to her sobriquet Xiaoyun. She was well versed in historical events and allusions, had a bold temperament, and disliked the teachings associated with the various schools, Buddhism, and Daoism. She read works by poets of earlier periods, usually discarded them after a single reading, retained only Gao Qi (高啟) and Wu Weiye (吳偉業), and later abandoned Wu while retaining Gao Qi as her model; her poetry was archaic in style.
Literary circles
王子蘭 was her student, and she wrote a preface for a work by 李淑儀. Prefaces to her works were written by 許宗彥, 梁同書, 張襄, 石韞玉, 陸準, 管筠, and 蘇垣; 曹貞秀, 席慧文, 顧蕙, 舒位, 張雲璈, and 姚椿 likewise wrote prefaces for them. Biographies of her were written by 胡敬 and 陳文述.
Works
Her works included 《自然好學齋集》, also titled 《自然好學齋詩集》 and 《自然好學齋詩鈔》; one form comprised ten volumes. She also compiled 《明三十家詩選》, divided into first and second collections. 《元明秩史》 is given as eighteen volumes, while the title 《元明逸史》 appears with eighty volumes.
References
- CBDB Wang Duan (54712)
- 搜韵 汪端 (66437)
- Wikidata Wang Duan (Q24837814)