Liu Caichun

Liu Caichun(刘采春) was a Gējì, actress and poet in the Tang Dynasty. She is listed as one of the four great female poets in the Tang Dynasty along with Xue Tao, Yu Xuanji and Li Ye.

Biography
Liu Caichun came from a poor family and later joined a drama troupe. She and her husband were both opera actors, forming a troupe and performing everywhere. Liu Caichun's husband Zhou Ji Chong was good at performing canjun opera(参军戏), and she was also good at performing this kind of drama. Liu Caichun was also a geji. She was an excellent singer with a very good voice. Her singing was evaluated as reaching the clouds. At that time, in the Jiangnan area of the Tang Dynasty, as long as Liu Caichun's "Qu(曲)" was sung, women in the boudoir and passers-by would burst into tears. Liu Caichun and Zhou Ji Chong(周季崇) had a daughter named Zhou Dehua(周德华). Their daughter Zhou Dehua was a geji in Huzhou and was good at singing Liuzhi Ci(柳枝词). When Yuan Zhen was the governor of Yuezhou and the governor of Zhejiang East, Liu Caichun came to Yuezhou from Huaidian with her husband Zhou Ji Chong and others, and she was deeply appreciated by Yuan Zhen. Later, Liu Caichun betrayed her husband and began to date Yuan Zhen. Yuan Zhen said in the poem "Presented to Liu Caichun" that she could sing "Waiting for Husband song(望夫歌)" by choosing words. Liu Caichun was beautiful and had a unique makeup. She dated Yuan Zhen for seven years, but Yuan Zhen broke up with her in the end.There is no record of Liu Caichun's ending in history, so it is unknown what happened to her in the end.

Personal poetry
Liu Caichun was also a female poet, one of the four great female poets in the Tang Dynasty. Among her poems, six of them “Luohequ(啰唝曲)” have been preserved.