Shen Fu
1763–after 1825
Biography
Shen Fu (1763–after 1825) was a writer of the Qing dynasty from Changzhou, a county in what is now Suzhou in Jiangsu. He was known by the courtesy name Sanbai and is remembered above all for a single work, the autobiographical Six Records of a Floating Life. He lived on modest means and earned his living as a clerk and secretary to officials, a common path for scholars who had not gained official rank. His own writing gives a frank account of how hard that life could be.
Six Records of a Floating Life, or Fu sheng liu ji, is a set of memoir sketches arranged in six chapters, of which only four survive. The surviving chapters describe his marriage, his wife Chen Yun, his enjoyment of gardens, art and travel, and the hardships that came with his poverty. The manuscript was rediscovered and printed in the late nineteenth century, and it has since been admired for its warm, candid tone and its quiet attention to small domestic pleasures.
The book on this site is Fu sheng liu ji, and it is the work through which readers meet him. The missing chapters mean the text is partial, a fact to keep in mind, but the four that remain form one of the most intimate self-portraits in Chinese literature. It is worth reading above all for the tenderness with which Shen Fu writes about his wife and about ordinary life.
This biography was written by a language model. The sources below are where to check it; treat details with care.
Books
浮生六記
by 沈復
Shen Fu, a minor clerk and artist of Suzhou, recalls his happy marriage to the clever Yun, the pleasures of small things, and the poverty that wrecked it all. Its six records are among the most loved memoirs in Chinese.
Summary written by Claude Sonnet 5.5.