Liu Rushi

Liu Rushi was a Chinese poet, calligrapher and courtesan associated with the literary culture of the late Ming and early Qing periods.

Celebrated as one of the Eight Beauties of Qinhuai, she published poetry while young, moved among leading scholars and married the poet and official Qian Qianyi. Her learning, political convictions and response to the Ming collapse made her a lasting figure in Chinese cultural history. In Alice Poon’s historical fiction, this person is represented within the Ming–Qing transition or the founding of the Qing dynasty.