Yun Zhu

Life

Her father, Yun Yuxiu, served as a dian shi at Feixiang, and Yun Zhu was also described as a clan descendant of Master Nantian. In childhood she accompanied her father to Feixiang; by the age of ten she was accomplished in poetry and skilled in painting.

An account relates that on the night of her birth, her grandmother Tang dreamed that an old woman presented a pearl, after which she was named Zhu. She also dreamed that in a former life she had been an attendant of Miaolian Bodhisattva, and painted *紅島侍書圖*. When relatives visited Feixiang, Suoluoshi admired her talent and virtue. Tested with a golden-pheasant poem, she wrote at once; its images of escaping the cage and learning to fly toward the sun won great admiration, and she was betrothed to the prefect.

She married Wanyan Tinglu, a Manchu prefect of Tai'an; the husband's name is also written 完顏廷鏴. After his death she educated her sons strictly. She had three sons: 完顏麟慶, 完顏麟昌, and 完顏麟書. Her eldest son, 完顏麟慶 (1791–1846), earned the jinshi degree at nineteen, served as a prefect and provincial governor, commanded the Southern River region, and rose to governor of the Jiangnan River Conservancy. She instructed him in verse to preserve his character beyond success in the examinations; when he entered the Secretariat, she painted a folding Ziwei fan and presented it with an inscription. His postings brought him a reputation for good administration, which was attributed to her maternal instruction. Her later family included the granddaughters 完顏妙蓮保 (1821–1861) and 完顏佛芸保, the daughter-in-law 程孟梅 (1796–1850), and the granddaughter-in-law 蔣重申.

She wrote prefaces for 蔡之定, 林培厚, 高鄂, 潘素心, 黃友琴, and 翁瑛, and postscripts for 程孟梅, 蔣重申, 惲崇碩, 鄭汝楫, and 宗梅.

Poetry, painting, and thought

She was known for poetry and painting. She was also described as a filial daughter, a xiaoxue philologist, and a scholar of the Book of Songs. Her painting followed the Nantian manner and drew on the style of her clan aunt, Yun Bing.

She was particularly learned in xinxue and admired Li Erqu. She had his collected writings reprinted and wrote a preface for the edition, and also had *遜庵語錄* printed to commemorate her ancestral virtue. She held that ethical bonds were the foundation for preserving order through the cycles of peace and disorder. Known for kindness and charity, she prepared medicines and compiled prescriptions to aid others; wherever her sons served, she repaired roads and shrines and showed a thorough understanding of statecraft and governance.

Works

She compiled *蘭閨寶錄* in six juan; a six-juan work is also titled *蘭閨實錄*. She also compiled *國朝閨秀正始集* in twenty juan, with one juan each of an appendix, supplementary material, and appended inscriptions; the work is also called *國朝女士正始集*. Her poetry collection is listed as *紅香館詩詞草* in two juan; other accounts give the titles *紅香館詩草* and *紅香館詩餘*.

*蘭閨實錄* was modeled on *列女傳*, drawing broadly on historical writings and arranging its contents under filial conduct, virtue, maternal example, faithful chastity, resourcefulness, and literary talent. She also gathered works by women of the Qing and selected them for *正始集*; the two books were regarded as documents of the women's inner quarters. A chancellor from Yizheng called her “a Confucian among women.”