Shen Defu () (1578–1642) was a Chinese writer and bureaucrat during the

Ming Dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

. He lived in

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by ...

. In 1618, he achieved the rank of ''

juren ''Juren'' (; 'recommended man') was a rank achieved by people who passed the ''xiangshi'' () exam in the imperial examination system of imperial China. The ''xiangshi'' is also known, in English, as the provincial examination. It was a rank hig ...

'' in the Imperial examinations, but failed an exam for promotion to the rank of ''jinshi'' a year later. His principal work was the ''Wanli ye huo bian'' (Miscellaneous notes of Wanli, ), which he completed in 1607. He was married for a time to the courtesan Xue Susu.

References

{{Authority control Ming dynasty historians 1578 births 1642 deaths Historians from Beijing 17th-century Chinese historians