Here are six talented ancient Chinese women who once impressed in their time, and still affect us in our time.
Li Qingzhao: Praised as the "No.1 talented woman", Li Qingzhao, a poet from the Song Dynasty (960-1279), was born in Shandong province.
Cai Wenji: Daughter of literatus Cai Yi of the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220). Cai was good not only at poetry and calligraphy, but also mathematics, astronomy, debate and music. Her masterpieces were Hu Jia Shi Ba Pai, or Eighteen Songs of a Nomad Flute, and Bei Feng Shi, or Indignant Poems.
Ban Zhao: Ban was the first female historian in China. Her father, Ban Biao, was an historian during the Eastern Han Dynasty. She was also good at writing poems, yet only seven of her works have survived.
Shangguan Wan'er: Shangguan was famous for being given an important position by the only female emperor, Wu Zetian of the Tang Dynasty (618-907).
Su Hui: Su Hui, from the Qian Qin (351-394) was famously known for a handkerchief she made. The textile was embroidered with 841 characters that could form 7,958 poems.
Xue Tao: It is recorded that Xue Tao, a talented female entertainer during the Tang Dynasty created this colored paper to write poems. During her time, writing papers were often yellow, yet Xue changed the simple color into different shades of red or green. Later, people made similar colorful paper and named them "Xue Tao Jian".
