List of Chinese women writers

The following is a list of Chinese women writers.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

B

• Consort Ban (c.48–c.6 BCE) scholar and poet
• Ban Zhao (45–c. 116) historian, polymath, author of Lessons for Women, one of the Four Books for Women
• Bao Junhui (fl. late 8th Century) poet
• Bao Linghui (fl. c.464) poet
• Anni Baobei (born 1974) novelist
• Bing Xin (1900–1999) fiction and children's writer
• Bu Feiyan (born 1981) novelist

C

• Cai Yan (c.178–after 206) poet
• Cai Wan (1695-1755) poet
• Cao Exiu (13th Century) Zaju actress and poet
• Cao Miaoqing (14th Century) poet, calligrapher, musician
• Chai Jingyi (17th Century) head of the Banana Garden Poets
• Chang Ch'ung-ho (1914–2015) poet
• Eileen Chang (1920–1995) novelist, essayist and screenwriter
• Chen Jingrong (1917–1989) poet
• Chen Danyan (born 1958) biographer
• Chen Duansheng (1751-1796) Tanci author
• Chen Xiaocui (1902–1967), poet, novelist, painter
• Chen Xiefen (1883-1923) magazine editor
• Chen Xuezhao (1906–1991) writer and commentator
• Chen Yuanyuan (17th Century) Geji
• Cheng Changwen (Tang Dynasty) poet and calligrapher
• Angelica Cheung (born 1966) fashion writer

D

• Dai Houying (1938–1996) novelist
• Ding Ling (1904–1986) fiction writer
• Dong Xiaowan (1624-1651) Geji poet
• Duan Shuqing (c.1510–c.1600) poet

F

• Fang Fang (born 1955) poet and novelist
• Fang Weiyi (1585-1668) poet and historian of women writers
• Feng Yuanjun (1900–1974) scholar
• Fu Shanxiang (1833–1864) scholar
• Fu Tianlin (born 1946) poet

G

• Gao Yu (born 1944) journalist
• Gu Hengbo (1619-1664) Gējì poet
• Gu Taiqing (1799–c.1877) poet
• Guan Daosheng (1262–1319) poet
• Guo Ai (died 1428) consort and poet

H

• Han Lanying (died 493) scholar and writer
• Hao Jingfang (born 1984) novelist
• He Shuangqing (1715-c.1737) lyric poet
• Hong Ying (born 1962) novelist and poet
• Ganggang Hu Guidice (born 1984) writer and artist
• Hü King Eng (1865-1929) physician
• Hu Lanqi (1901–1994) writer and military leader
• Huang Chonggu (885-924) administrator, poet
• Huang E (1498–1569) poet
• Madame Huarui (c.940–976) poet

J

• Jiang Biwei (1899–1978) memoirist
• Jiang Hui (1839-after 1880) astronomer
• Jin Yi (1770-1794) poet

K

• Ke Yan (1929–2011) playwright, novelist and poet
• Kin Yamei (1864-1935) physician

L

• Li Pingxiang (late 19th-early 20th Century) Gējì poet
• Li Qingzhao (1084–c.1151) writer and poet
• Li Ye (died 784) poet
• Liang Desheng (1771–1847) poet and Tanci author
• Lin Huiyin (1904–1955) architectural historian
• Lin Zongsu (1878–1944) women's rights essayist
• Ling Shuhua (1900–1990) modernist writer and painter
• Lin Xue (Ming Dynasty) landscape painter, poet, calligrapher
• Lin Yining (1655-c.1730) one of the original Banana Garden Poets
• Liu Qingyun (c.1841-c.1900) playwright
• Liu Rushi (1618–1664) singer, poet and writer
• Liu Ying (born 1974) novelist
• Lü Bicheng (1883–1943) poet and commentator
• Luo Luo (born 1982) novelist
• Lüqiu Luwei (born 1969) journalist

M

• Ma Shouzhen (c.1548-1604) Geji poet and painter, also known as Ma Xianglan
• Mian Mian (born 1970) fiction writer
• Duchess Mu of Xu (fl. 7th Century BCE) poet

N

• Niu Yingzhen (8th Century) poet

P

• Lynn Pan (born 1945) travel writer

Q

• Qiu Jin (1875–1907) poet, essayist and political writer

R

• Rao Xueman (born 1972) fiction writer, essayist and blogger
• Ru Zhijuan (1925–1998) fiction writer

S

• Shangguan Wan'er (c.664–710) poet and writer
• Shen Qing (living) fashion writer
• Shen Rong (1936–2024) fiction writer and essayist
• Shen Shanbao (1808–1862) poet and writer
• Shu Ting (born 1952) poet
• Song Mingqiong (died 1802) poet
• Song Ruolun (fl. 8th Century) one of the five Song Sisters
• Song Ruoshen (died 820) primary author of Analects for Women, one of the Four Books for Women
• Song Ruoxian (772-835) secretary and record keeper for Emperor Jingzong
• Song Ruoxun (fl. 8th Century) one of the five Song Sisters
• Song Ruozhao (761-828) poet, biographer, annotated her sister Ruoshen's Analects for Women
• Su Hui (4th Century) poet
• Su Qing (1914–1982) essayist
• Su Xiaoxiao (c.479 – c.501) poet
• Su Xuelin (1897–1999) author and scholar

T

• Tian Yuan (born 1985) singer-songwriter and novelist
• Tie Ning (born 1957) novelist and short story writer

W

• Wang Anyi (born 1954) fiction writer
• Wang Qinghui (1264–1288) poet
• Wang Wei (1597–1647) poet
• Wang Xufeng (born 1955) writer on tea and novelist
• Wang Yun (1749–1819) poet and playwright
• Yun Wang (born 1964) poet and cosmologist
• Woeser (born 1966) blogger, poet and essayist
• Wu Chuntao (born 1963) social writer
• Wu Zao (1799–1862) poet
• Wu Zetian (624=705) empress-regnant, poet and calligrapher
• Madame Wu (13th century) cookbook writer

X

• Xi Xi (1937-2022) novelist and poet
• Xia Jia (born 1984) science fiction and fantasy writer
• Xiao Hong (1911–1942) fiction writer and essayist
• Xie Bingying (1906–2000) autobiographer
• Xie Daoyun (4th Century) poet and scholar
• Xin Fengxia (1927-1998) actress, author, artist
• Xinran (born 1958) non-fiction writer
• Empress Xu (1362–1407) author of Domestic Lessons, one of the Four Books for Women
• Xu Hui (627–650) poet
• Xu Kun (born 1965) postmodern fiction writer
• Xu Yuan (c.1560-1620) poet
• Xu Zihua (1873–1935) poet
• Xue Susu (c.1564–c.1650) poet
• Xue Tao (768–831) poet

Y

• Yang Erche Namu (born 1966) social writer
• Yang Gang (1905–1957) journalist, novelist and translator
• Yang Hongying (born 1962) children's fiction writer
• Yang Jiang (1911–2016) playwright, author and translator
• Ting-Xing Ye (born 1952) author of young adult novels
• Ye Yingchun (born 1970) commentator
• Chia-ying Yeh (1924–2024) poet and scholar
• Lizzie Yu Der Ling (1885–1944), writer of several memoirs
• Nellie Yu Roung Ling (1889–1973), author of a memoir and a novella
• Yu Xuanji (c.840–c.868) poet
• Yun Zhu (1771-1833) poet, painter, moralist

Z

• Zeng Baosun (1893–1978) historian
• Zhai Yongming (born 1955) poet
• Zhang Haidi (born 1955) writer and translator
• Zhang Huaicun (born 1972) novelist, poet and children's writer
• Zhang Jie (1937–2022) fiction writer
• Zhang Kangkang (born 1950) fiction writer
• Lijia Zhang (born 1964) commentator and public speaker
• Zhang Ling (born 1957) fiction writer
• Zhang Xinxin (born 1953) biographer and fiction writer
• Zhang Yaotiao (fl. 9th Century) poet
• Zhang Yueran (born 1982) fiction writer
• Empress Zhangsun (601–636) essayist
• Zhao Luanluan (fl. mid-14th Century) poet
• Zhao Luorui (1912–1998) poet and translator
• Zheng Min (1920–2022) scholar and poet
• Zheng Yunduan (c.1327–1356) poet
• Yilin Zhong (living) fiction writer and poet
• Zhou Weihui (born 1973) novelist
• Zhu Lin (born 1949) novelist
• Zhu Shuzhen (c.1135–1180) poet
• Zhuo Wenjun (fl. 2nd Century BCE) poet
• Zong Pu (born 1928) writer and scholar
• Zuo Fen (c.255–300) poet

See also

• List of Chinese writers
• List of women writers
• List of Chinese-language poets