Hou Fangyu (Hou Fang-yü) 1618-1655

Spent most of his youth in Peking, where his father was a high official at court. He went to Nanjing in 1639 to take the civil service examination, but failed and returned to the north. Not long afterwards, he had to flee back to Nanjing during Li Zicheng's peasant rebellion, but then had to flee again because of accusations of political intrigue. His arch-enemy was restored to office and bloodletting followed, but Hou survived. The Manchus came to power and Hou capitulated to them some years later. He died shortly afterwards, of shame it was believed. He was immortalised in the play Taohua shan [The peachblossom fan] (1699) by Kong Shangren.

         close