Background
lieutenant has been claimed that she was born into a banner family named Gu and took on Manchu identity after her marriage to Yihui (1799-1838), a Manchu prince.
顾太清
lieutenant has been claimed that she was born into a banner family named Gu and took on Manchu identity after her marriage to Yihui (1799-1838), a Manchu prince.
She is especially known for her ci poetry and for her sequel to the novel Honglou meng. One scholar estimates that there are as many as 1,163 surviving poems written by Gu. Her family was originally from Liaoning.
There is some debate as to whether or not she was of Manchu descent.
Other scholars claim that the confusion about her identity is an attempt to obscure her family"s descent from East-er-tai, a Manchu grand secretary disgraced (and forced to commit suicide) during one of Qianlong"s literary inquisitions. Her marriage to Yihui seems to have been a happy one, despite the fact that she had the status of concubine rather than primary wife.
During this period of poverty she may have sustained her family by selling jewelry and artwork
Gu Taiqing was the author of a sequel to Honglou meng (Dream of the Red Chamber), entitled Honglou meng ying紅樓夢影 (Dream Shadows of the Red Chamber). Gu Taiqing"s poems exist in a number of modern editions.
Translations of individual poems have been made by Ellen Widmer.
David McCraw, Grace South. Fong and Irving Yucheng Lo;Yanning Wang. And Wilt Idema and Beata Grant.