He was born a noble of the Ming imperial house, but after a military defeat, he became a prisoner at the age of nineteen and was confined to Prince Jinggong’s mansion in Beijing.
The Qing emperor made him a marquis, provided for him for life, and allowed him to keep his hair and wear Ming clothing. For ninety years, he stubbornly bowed south once every year, using poetry to satirize the ruling court and silence to preserve his integrity.
From Qianlong to Jiaqing to Daoguang, Qing emperors came and went. But this “Ming Dynasty Su Wu” wore the old Ming robes all his life, confined to a single courtyard.
He was given the name “Shouwu,” meaning mud-plastering laborer, and bore his humiliation with patience. He truly endured for a hundred years, using his long life to write the loneliest chapter in the history of the Ming remnants overseas.
