Shen Guangwen

Shen Guangwen
沈光文
Born1612
Died1688
NationalityMing
Kingdom of Tungning
Qing
Occupation(s)Writer, educator
Known forthe founder of Taiwanese literature
PredecessorZhang Yan-bin
Shen Guangwen
Chinese
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinShěn Guāngwén
Wade–GilesShen Kuang-wên
Other names
Wenkai
Traditional Chinese
Simplified Chinese
Literal meaningOpener of Civilization or Literature
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinWénkāi
Wade–GilesWên-k‘ai
Si'an
Chinese
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinSī'ān
Wade–GilesSsu-an

Shen Guangwen (1612–1688), also known as Wenkai and Si'an, was a scholar, poet, educator, and the founder of Taiwanese literature.[1] He is considered as such, despite having been born in Zhejiang in mainland China, the Qing conquest of Ming forced him to move to Taiwan in 1652. After that, he devoted the rest of his life mainly to enlightening inhabitants in modern-day Tainan until he died in 1688. Significantly, this was the very first opportunity for local people[who?] to learn Han Chinese culture. As such, the achievement of Shen Guangwen was a crucial foundation in the development of education and culture in Taiwanese history. As a result, people show their respect for him by giving him another name Taiwanese Confucius.

  1. ^ "台灣大百科全書 Encyclopedia of Taiwan". Archived from the original on 2013-04-18. Retrieved 2012-04-29.