Flowers Bloom at the Tip of the Pen, by Qiu Xinru, Edited by Qingyang and Xiaoming

The Story of Pen Blossoms recounts the tale of Jiang Dehua, a woman of the Ming dynasty. After her father is pursued by treacherous ministers, she agrees to enter the palace to save him. On the way, she throws herself into a river to protect her chastity, but is unexpectedly saved by a fox spirit. Disguised as a man, she escapes. After enduring many hardships, she travels to the capital to take the imperial examinations, earns the title of top scholar, and goes on to distinguish herself through her achievements.

Qiu Xinru was from Shanyang. Her father was a school official, her brothers fell on hard times, and her younger sister was widowed young. This account appears in the opening of the twelfth chapter of her work, The Story of Pen Blossoms. The Dictionary of Chinese Writers states: Qiu Xinru's courtesy name and birth and death dates are unknown. She is believed to have lived around 1845, during the reign of the Qing Emperor Daoguang. She married into the Zhang family, but her husband was rather mediocre. More than twenty years later, her beloved son died young, her daughter married, and her parents-in-law passed away from illness. Extremely poor, she returned to her mother's home, set up a school, and taught students while supporting her mother until her death. Qiu Xinru wrote the 32-part ballad narrative The Story of Pen Blossoms. Parts one through five were written before she married. Twenty-one years after marrying, she completed another fourteen parts. After her parents-in-law died, she returned to her mother's home and finally finished the work. It was published in 1857.

Theme: Women's writing in the Qing dynasty