Zhao Luanluan
Zhao Zhao Luanluan, courtesy name Wenyuan (文鹓), was a Chinese poet who lived during the Zhizheng reign (1341–1367), a chaotic period at the end of the Yuan dynasty. She is incorrectly included in the Quan Tangshi, a Qing dynasty anthology of Tang dynasty poems, whose compilers assumed that she was a prostitute because she composed some erotic poems.
Also recorded as chao luan-luan · Wenyuan
Zhao Luanluan
- Nationality
- Tang dynasty
- Occupation
- poet
- Fields
- poetry
- Languages
- Chinese
In this article
Biography
The Ming dynasty author Li Zhen or Li Changqi (李昌祺; 1376–1452), a near contemporary of Zhao Luanluan, wrote the Biography of Luanluan (). This account, although dramatized and not entirely credible, is the only extant record about Zhao's life.
According to Li Zhen, Zhao Luanluan was born to an elite family in Dongping, in modern Shandong province. She was first married to an impotent man with the surname Gu, who died a few months after their marriage. She then married Liu Ying (柳颖), but was kidnapped by the rebel leader Tian Feng's army. During her captivity she composed and sent to her husband a four-verse poem, which emulated a poem written by the famous 2nd-century poet Cai Yan when she was held captive by the Xiongnu. Liu took great risks to find his wife and managed to gain her release, and the couple took refuge in the Culai Mountain (徂徕山) in Shandong. Liu Ying, however, was later captured and killed by the rebels, and Zhao threw herself on her husband's funeral pyre.
The story of Zhao Luanluan and her husband inspired a late-Yuan or early-Ming nanxi drama called Liu Ying, which has been lost.
Poetry
The Qing dynasty compilers of the Quan Tangshi (Complete Collection of Tang Poetry) mistook Zhao Luanluan as a Tang dynasty poet and included her poems in the anthology. Moreover, they thought she was a prostitute working in Pingkang, the red light district of the Tang capital Chang'an, because some of her poems are erotic in nature. This characterization is repeated in some modern sources.
Five of Zhao Luanluan's poems are extant, which are collectively called "Five Lyric Outcries from the Boudoir". One of Zhao's erotic poems is Su Ru (酥乳), translated as "Succulent Breasts" or "Creamy Breasts":
• 酥乳Succulent Breasts
• 粉香汗湿瑶琴轸A whiff of powder, damp with sweat, rare jade turning-pegs:
• 春逗酥融绵雨膏Aroused by spring, they glisten, gleam, sleek as silkfloss-rains.
• 浴罢檀郎扪弄处When, fresh from the bath, her sweet-scent lover teases with a touch,
• 灵华凉沁紫葡萄Those magical buds feel shivery-wet—those dusky-purple grapes!
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Zhao Luanluan, revision 1321092574 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record.
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Lee, Lily Xiao Hong. Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women: Tang Through Ming 618–1644. Routledge. II. 899–900. 2015. 978-1317515616.
- 2.Lynn, Richard John. Kuan Yün Shih. Twayne Publishers. 218. 1980. 978-0-8057-6404-8.
- 3.五代·王仁裕 《开元天宝遗事·风流薮泽》：“ 长安有平康坊 ，妓女所居之地，京都侠少，萃集于此。兼每年新进士以红笺名纸，游谒其中，时人谓此坊为风流薮泽。”
- 4.Chang, Kang-i Sun. Women Writers of Traditional China: An Anthology of Poetry and Criticism. Stanford University Press. 76–78. 1999. 0804732310.
- 5.Weinberger, Eliot. The New Directions Anthology of Classical Chinese Poetry. New Directions Publishing. 119. 2004. 978-0-8112-1605-0.
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 04 September 2026.
Elsewhere in Books
37,093 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Zhangsun WujiAuthor
- Zhao GuangfengAuthor
- Zhao JingshenAuthor
- Zhao LipingAuthor
- Zhao RukuoAuthor
- Zhao ShuliAuthor
- Zhao YanshouAuthor
- Zhao YanzhaoAuthor
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