author
Shangren Kong
1648–1718
Best known for The Peach Blossom Fan, this Qing dynasty dramatist turned the fall of the Ming into a vivid, emotionally rich classic. A descendant of Confucius, he brought scholarship, poetry, and theater together in one of Chinese literature’s most enduring plays.
1 Audiobook
桃花扇
by Shangren Kong
About the author
Born in Qufu in Shandong in 1648, Kong Shangren was a Qing dynasty dramatist, poet, and scholar-official. He is widely remembered as a sixty-fourth-generation descendant of Confucius, a background that shaped both his learning and his public reputation.
His fame rests above all on The Peach Blossom Fan, a chuanqi play completed in 1699 and set against the collapse of the Southern Ming. The work blends romance, political memory, and historical reflection, and it remains the book most closely associated with his name.
Alongside his literary work, Kong also served in official life after gaining imperial notice during the Kangxi era. Today he is remembered as one of the notable playwrights of the early Qing period, admired for joining historical feeling with dramatic storytelling.