sempozyum_bildiri_kitabi

gentlewomen for her reputation as a poet. Her preface is written in ornate parallel prose, a style that
demonstrates the literary skill and refinement of the writer and, by reflection, the cultural level of
the author for whose collection the preface was written. In addition to extolling Chen’s talents as a
poet and painter, Pan also devotes a long allusion‐filled passage describing Chen and her husband as
a loving couple who shared their poetic and artistic interests.
(P3) In this short preface dated 1851, the author Xiao Dexuan states that he is a longtime friend of
Chen’s husband. This preface is again full of expressions of admiration for Chen’s poetic and artistic
talents.
(P4) The preface by Chen Yunlian’s elder brother, Chen Zuwang, is also dated 1851. As a close kin,
he provides biographical details on Chen Yunlian’s childhood and youth, describing her as one of two
talented younger sisters who loved poetry. According to him, Yunlian was an intelligent child doted
on by her father, and Chen Zuwang himself taught her as though she was a little brother. He also
notes that she excelled in both poetry and painting and these literati practices became the shared
pastime of husband and wife. Furthermore, he points to how Chen Yunlian and Zuo Chen had
acquired a reputation for their companionate marriage. In closing, he mentioned that soon after he
compiled the Chen family genealogy, in which he included several scores of Yunlian’s poems, he
received a letter from Zuo Chen requesting a preface for the complete collection of Chen Yunlian’s
poetry now ready for printing. Naturally Chen Zuwang proudly complied.
Ten years separate Fang Tinghu’s “preface” (P1) from the two prefaces (P3 and P4) dated 1851. In
spite of the time difference, the four allographic prefaces are remarkably similar in how they perform
their requisite function to present Chen Yunlian, the person and her poetry, in a positive light.
Significantly, these four prefaces all emphasize her talent and pass over her virtue in silence. The
image that comes through is a woman exceptionally talented in the two literati arts of poetry and
painting; her marriage exemplifies artistic compatibility and romance. The prefaces by Pan Suxin (P3)
and Chen’s brother (P4) also explicitly link the couple’s conjugal love to their shared interest in
literary and artistic practice. By implication, the publication of Chen Yulian’s poetry collection, rather
than simply bearing witness to the couple’s apparent harmonious and affectionate marriage, is to be
seen as its very embodiment. Indeed, Poems from the Loft includes linked verse by wife and husband
and many poems that Chen Yunliang addressed to Zuo Chen or sent to him when he was away, and
poems that Zuo wrote to match the rhymes in Chen Yunlian’s poems are also appended after hers.
This last poetic practice between Chen and Zuo, in which Chen is usually the “active” initiator and
Zuo the “passive” follower, subverts the normative order of the “husband leads and wife follows.”
Chen Yunlian’s talents, to all appearances, outshone those of her husband.
Her brother throws light on another ability manifest in her marriage – economic: as Zuo Chen’s
salary was insufficient and he was often unemployed, Chen Yunlian brought in income with her
painting to support the family. Hers is not the conventional model of feminine virtue, such as a filial
daughter‐in‐law serving her in‐laws, a model mother teaching her children (sons) to read and write,
or a frugal wife busying herself with managing “rice and salt,” and weaving or embroidering to make
ends meet. The virtuous component of the wifely ideal is categorically underplayed or suppressed in
these paratexts.
The number of paratexts placed at the beginning of a collection, the reputation and stature of
their authors, the genres represented (preface, endorsement verse, biography, etc.), the literary and
calligraphic styles chosen also serve as factors in packaging the collection and carry social, cultural,
and ritual significance. 4 In this regard, Poems from the Loft has more than the minimum paratext
(one preface) and can be considered moderately packaged for the wife of an unsuccessful scholar
who never passed the examinations, was frequently looking for work, and only managed to get a few
minor posts.