Life
"Shen Fu" or "Shen Sanbai" (Shěn Sānbái) was born in Changzhou (now in Suzhou, Jiangsu province) in 1763. He was known as a great writer and wrote one of the best known descriptions of everyday life during the Qing Dynasty, Six Records of a Floating Life. In this text, which was completed in 1807, Shen Fu describes the gentle personality of his wife, Chen Yun, and his love for her. He also chronicles the rejection of Chen Yun by his parents and her untimely death. Shen Fu was a government clerk, a "yamen" private secretary. More broadly, he also seems to have been a painter and an occasional trader or businessman, although he failed at these attempts.
An English translation of Six Records of a Floating Life is available as a Penguin paperback. It is considered a great classic of Chinese literature.
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