SSU-MA HSIANG-JU

born 179 BC, Ch'eng-tu, China died 117 BC, Mao-ling, Nan Yeh Pinyin Sima Xiangru famous Chinese writer of fu, a form of descriptive poetry. Self-trained in literature and fencing, Ssu-ma Hsiang-ju was appointed as bodyguard to the Han emperor Ching I, but soon he took a new position at the court of Prince Hsiao of Liang and began to compose his famous fu Tzu Hs fu (Master Nil), in which three imaginary characters describe the delights of the hunt. After the death of Prince Hsiao, Ssu-ma Hsiang-ju returned to Ch'eng-tu, where he met, seduced, and eloped with Cho Wen-chn, the recently widowed daughter of a wealthy man. Although her father at first opposed the marriage, he later relented and gave the penniless couple money and slaves as the result of Ssu-ma's appointment at the emperor's court. This appointment came about because the poet had entrusted his Tzu Hs fu to a friend, who had shown it to the emperor. Immediately charmed by the poem, the emperor asked him to write a fu on the imperial hunt. Ssu-ma extended his original work into a highly imaginative and successful fu entitled Shang-lin fu (Supreme Park) and was rewarded with the court post. Endowed with his wife's share of the immense family fortune, the poet lived in comfort while he continued to write his fu. Only 29 fu and 4 prose selections survive.