Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses suicide, alcohol addiction, and sexual violence.

Shen Fu was born during the winter of 1763 to a family of wealthy officials in Suzhou. His family lived next to the celebrated Pavilion of the Waves, and he grew up happy and privileged during a time of “peace and plenty.” The first girl to whom Shen Fu was engaged died while they were both still children, so he instead married his cousin Chen Yun. From her earliest childhood, Chen Yun proved to be exceptionally clever and resourceful. She easily memorized the poem The Mandolin Song and then used a written copy of the poem to teach herself to read. Her father died when she was four, and so she learnt to embroider well enough that she was able to singlehandedly support family and pay for her brother’s education. In her free time, she taught herself to write poetry.

Shen Fu was impressed with her poems and her embroidery skills when first they met at age 13, and although Chen Yun was no great beauty, he found her deeply attractive. He told his mother that he’d marry no one but Chen Yun, and since his mother also liked Chen Yun’s gentleness, she agreed to arrange the match.