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She is one of the most outstanding female painters, poets and lyricists in modern times. She started learning painting at the age of 14, successively studying under Yin Hebai and Zheng Ningde. She started learning poetry at the age of 17, studying under Zhu Guwei, and later learning lyric from Jiang Meisheng. Her poems and lyric are full of beautiful lines, and she wrote "A Brief Introduction to Learning Poetry" and "Luochuan Rhymes".

Zhou Lianxia: (1908-2000) was born in Ji'an, Jiangxi Province, and in Xiangtan, Hunan Province. His original name was Ziyi, also known as Qi, with the courtesy name Yu (pronounced Yu, meaning auspicious cloud), the pseudonym Luochuan, the studio Luochuan Poetry House, Chanhongxuan, and pen names Lianxia, ​​Chanhong, Suohong, Zigu, Qiutang, etc. Later, he was known as Lianxia.

Zhou Lianxia was lucky. She was born in a family of scholars and scholars in Xiangtan, Hunan. She lived a wealthy life since childhood, with many servants in her family. She recorded the scenes of celebrating the New Year in her childhood in her article "New Year Memories":

When she woke up early in the morning, her hair was combed to shine, with a red silk mustache hanging from the end of her braid. There was a ruby ​​on the forehead of her melon-shaped hat. She wore a black satin jacket with round flowers and a blue velvet satin robe. The most interesting thing was the pair of specially made embroidered boots on her feet, with snow-white foundation, which were so delicate and exquisite. I will never forget them!

Especially fortunately, Zhou Lianxia had an open-minded and loving father. Her father, Zhou Henian, was proficient in poetry and painting, and loved his children very much. Zhou Lianxia was taught by her family since she was young. Every year, her father would give her a brush as a New Year gift, and write a rhyme of congratulations to encourage her. Zhou Lianxia had a quick mind and often exchanged poems with her father. When she was a little older, Zhou Henian sent his daughter to learn poetry and painting, without the pedantic concept that men were superior to women and that women were virtuous if they were not talented.

The elementary education she received in her childhood nurtured Zhou Lianxia's spirituality and cultivated her language sensitivity, laying a very important foundation for her to join the ranks of talented women in the future. When Zhou Lianxia was 9 years old, she moved to Shanghai with her father, where she became famous for a lifetime.

Zhou Henian hired Zheng Dening to teach painting, Zhu Xiaozang to write lyrics, and Jiang Meisheng to write poems for his daughter in Shanghai. These three teachers were all famous at the time. Zhu Xiaozang was the leader in the field of lyrics, which shows Zhou Henian's good intentions. Zhou Lianxia also lived up to her father's orders and wrote poems that were famous at the time.

In his early years, he compiled "Xiaoluochuan Poetry Draft" and in his later years, he compiled "Luochuan Rhymes". The most popular poem is "Xijiangyue·Cold Night": "I whispered softly several times, saying that the night is still cold; I will go home early and sleep early, and I will see you in my dreams. Don't forget our promise, the stars are shining; as long as our hearts are shining, it doesn't matter if there is no lamp or moon."

Zhou Lianxia also wrote many poems about love and things, and she was very good at finding the right words to express her feelings. Her words were touching and admirable, which showed that Zhou Lianxia had an excellent talent for language. However, her life was too good and she could not experience the sufferings of the world, so her early poems were full of talent but lacked taste.

Liu Xinhuang said in "History of Literature in the Occupied Areas during the Anti-Japanese War": "Zhou Lianxia, ​​known as 'Lian Shi Niang', was as famous as Su Qing, Zhang Ailing, Pan Liudai and others at that time. 'Lian Shi Niang' must be said to have some talent. She had considerable attainments in calligraphy, painting, poetry and lyrics, and her appearance was the most beautiful among female writers." This is probably the only time that Zhou Lianxia was mentioned in a literary history work.

Mao Heting was a great poet in modern times, highly respected and virtuous, but he highly praised Zhou Lianxia's poems and often recommended them to others. Xu Xiaobi was a madman in the poetry world, and there were not many people he liked, but he got along very well with Zhou Lianxia, ​​and he often went to talk about poetry with her. When he came back, he said, "Among the people in the painting academy, Zhou Lianxia is the best in poetry, and men are ashamed of her."

She has a short poem "Cold Night": Several times she whispered softly, saying that the night was still cold. Go home early and sleep early, I will see you in my dreams. Ding Ning, don't forget the promise, the stars are shining. As long as our hearts are shining, it doesn't matter if there is no lamp or moon. It is indeed quite a true inheritance of the graceful school, with the charm of Li Yi'an.

Zhou Lianxia was very quick-witted. Once, the calligraphy and painting mounting master Liu Dingzhi celebrated his birthday and asked for a painting. Mao Heting found it difficult to start, as mounting was just a craftsman's skill and there was no classic to use. As he was hesitating, Zhou Lianxia said: "It's just plain drawing, why bother with the classics?" Then he wrote a seven-character poem: "The thin bones and long beard are in the painting, and passers-by say it's Mr. Liu. Silver hairs are arranged in parallel to form jade snow, and the precious scrolls are hanging down to suppress the jade rainbow. The patching is seamless, and the cloud brocade is made with divine craftsmanship. Now the art garden has left the true score, and first of all, your family's first achievement.

Zhou Lianxia was born with natural beauty and great intelligence. What was even more rare was that she skillfully combined wit, humor and freedom, which constituted her colorful personality. According to Chen Julai's account: Zhou Lianxia was clever and humorous by nature, and was well-known in the poetry, calligraphy and painting circles in Shanghai.

One day, Beijing painter Zhou Huaimin came to Shanghai, and Wu Qingxia specially hosted a banquet at home, inviting Tang Yun, Jiang Hanting, Chen Julai, and Zhou Lianxia to accompany him. During the banquet, Chen Julai asked Jiang Hanting to paint a fan with the content of Liang Zhu turning into butterflies, and asked Tang Yun to add grass and Zhou Lianxia to add flowers.

At that time, it was midsummer, and in order to prevent sweat stains, Zhou Lianxia took out a large handkerchief from her bosom and covered the other half of the fan when she was mending the flowers. When Tang Yun saw it, he joked, "This handkerchief is so big, is it a man's handkerchief?" Zhou smiled and replied, "Yes." Tang Yun snatched it away and said, "Give it to me!" Zhou said calmly, "You can take it." Then he said, "You are holding the handkerchief my son uses to wipe his nose." The whole room was filled with applause, and Tang Yun had to smile and return the handkerchief to her.

Another time, Zhou Lianxia went to Wu Qingxia's house to sit around. There was a huge table in Wu Qingxia's seal incense pavilion, which was several feet long and three feet wide. It was made of apricot wood and bought from Wuzhong. Wu Qingxia said that it was specially made for Peng Yulin to paint plum blossoms. Zhou Lianxia heard this and said to Qingxia with a smile: "So it's 'Peng Gong's Case'." Such was his wit and humor.

In her later years, Zhou Lianxia was still radiant and charming, and her every move was as graceful as before. A friend asked for her recent photo, and Zhou Lianxia sent back two poems of "Bosuanzi", which included the following lines: "You are already an ugly slave, how can you still be as charming as Luofu? The green and red of late spring, playing with shadows is meaningless..."

World Art Selection