Xia Wanchun was a young poet of the late Ming dynasty, born in Huating County, Songjiang Prefecture. From childhood he studied poetry and prose under his father Xia Yunyi and his teacher Chen Zilong, and was deeply influenced by the archaic literary style of the Jishe group. After Qing forces moved south, he joined the resistance, was defeated and captured, and in a Nanjing prison wrote works including "A Letter to My Mother from Prison." He went to his death calmly at only seventeen. His writing, set against the crisis of nation and dynasty, is marked by deep and genuine grief, with a terse, forceful language that carries echoes of Six Dynasties parallel prose while also expressing the intense sorrow of a young author. The library currently holds only "A Letter to My Mother from Prison," an epistolary work voicing guilt and farewell to his mother, intertwining private affection with national loyalty. Due to limited surviving sources, details of his life and the full scope of his work await further study, yet this single piece already reveals a style in which literary craft and moral resolve are equally weighted.
