sempozyum_bildiri_kitabi

erudite woman. 19 In the third poem, she uses a similar term “scholar with hair not combed up” to
refer to herself with self‐irony. Although she had to yield her position as sexual partner to the new
concubine, she trains herself to see it as the necessary evil of procreation (#2), perhaps because she
never produced a son who lived. By addressing these poems to her husband, she asserts her position
not only as the principal wife, but also as the instigator and manager of this whole affair. Her poetic
persona allows this union to take place because of her largesse, and she takes control in the
arrangement from beginning to end, including using her poetic skills to create a series of mocking
poems. Are these poems desperate measures? It seems maintaining the appearance of a
“harmonious” marriage became more and more of a burden. Finally, wife and husband apparently
became completely estranged in middle age. Chen Yunlian’s endurance turned into bitter
resentment and anger. In her authorial preface to the 1851 edition, there are already hints that she
was demanding acknowledgement of her subjectivity and her economic contributions from her
husband, family, and the readers of her collection.
The author gets the last word
At the very end of the collection is appended a series of eight authorial colophons (C1‐C8) written
for paintings of vignettes from her marital life that Chen Yunlian herself painted. 20 Unfortunately the
paintings were not reproduced in the collection and are no longer extant. Chen’s colophons are a
unique set of authorial paratexts framing and interpreting a set of authorial visual texts. She
intended in no uncertain terms to use these paintings and their accompanying inscriptions to
demonstrate her devotion, love, and sacrifice throughout her marriage. They are also an expression
of the pain of recollection, acknowledging that the conjugal love in the past has vanished. She boldly
accuses her husband of ingratitude and betrayal. Each colophon begins with the title of the painting
(see below), followed by a prose passage, guiding the viewer to read the meaning of each visual
representation:
C1. The Harmonious Sounding of the Zithers
C2. Discussing Poetry under the Banana Trees
C3. Linking Verses in the Moonlight
C4. Praying to Heaven in Wintry Storms
C5. Writing Poetry to Make a Living
C6. Slicing Off a Piece of Flesh to Cure the Illness
C7. Sleepless Nights
C8. Wind and Rain by the Autumn Window
From the companionate marriage depicted in the first three paintings and colophons (C1‐C3),
Chen Yunlian turns to claim her wifely devotion and other virtues in the remaining paintings, with
progressive incrimination against Zuo: she prayed for his safety when he was traveling and indulging
in romance (C4); exerted herself to produce paintings to bring in income to support the family (C5);
sacrificed her own flesh to bring him back to life from a grave illness (C6); and devoted herself night
and day to cure his disease and suffering its filth, where she describes with graphic and revolting
detail how she cared for him without a wink of sleep for two months when he got an ulcer in his
mouth (C7):
I knelt facing up at him and held the tube to feed him medicine by blowing it into his
mouth. Thick blood, mucus, and phlegm all flowed into my mouth. It was not until the
next spring that he got better. I thus made this painting, so that looking at it might he not
be moved? 21