Kong Shangren

Kong Shangren (1648–1718), courtesy name Pinzhi and literary name Dongtang, was a native of Qufu, Shandong, and a sixty-fourth-generation descendant of Confucius. A poet and playwright of the early Qing dynasty, he served as a scholar at the Imperial College and as a vice director in the Ministry of Revenue. Over more than ten years and through three drafts, he completed the chuanqi play The Peach Blossom Fan. Using the love story of Hou Fangyu and Li Xiangjun as its thread, the play weaves in the upheavals of the Southern Ming dynasty; it is tightly structured and elegantly written, and stands as one of the representative works of Qing chuanqi, earning Kong and Hong Sheng the joint title "Hong of the South, Kong of the North." He also left the play Little Sudden Thunder and collections of poetry and prose including Lake and Sea Collection and Antang Drafts. His works often draw on history and worldly affairs, carrying both literary and documentary value.