Huang Zunxian courtesy name Gongdu (公度), was a Chinese

Chinese people

The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....

 writer

Writer

A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....

 and poet

Poet

A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...

, active during the late Qing Dynasty

Qing Dynasty

The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....

. He was born in Chia-ying, now Mei County, Guangdong, and died 57 years later in the same place.

Biography

Huang was a government official who worked as a diplomat but is remembered today for his poetry. His diplomatic duties took him to Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 and Singapore

Singapore

Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

 wherein he collected materials for his poems. He created a literary breakthrough by studying speech and folk songs of the common people in his home town of Chia-ying, and incorporating them into his poetry.

While Huang was a councilor to He Ruzhang, the Qing dynasty's first envoy to Japan in September 1880, he was ordered to compile a policy paper for the visiting Korean reformist Kim Hongjip

Kim Hongjip

Kim Hong-jip was a Korean politician best known for his role as prime minister during the Gabo Reform period of 1895-1896. For a period he was also known as Kim Goeng-jip ....

with recommendations for Korea's foreign policy. This important document, known as the Chaoxian Celue (J: Chōsen Sakuryaku K:Choseon Chekryak) advised Korea to strengthen itself through reform and, "Keeping close to China, Creating ties with Japan, and allying with the United States." The document was presented to the Korean government upon Kim Hongjip's return and may have been one of the key inspirations for reforms in Korea from 1881 onwards.