ABSTRACT
Pen name of Hu Meizi. Xiong Hong is a native of Taidong, Taiwan. Since her graduation with a fine arts degree from National Taiwan Normal University she has worked as an interior decorator and illustrator. She started writing poetry in the late fifties, quickly becoming one of Taiwan's leading women poets. Her poems have been widely anthologized. Her books of poems include Golden Chrysalis (1968), Collected Poems of Xiong Hong (1976), and Red Coral (1983). Her early works are mostly romantic lyrics dealing with the theme of love. After 1971 she broadened the scope of her work with a shift toward realism.Being a devout Buddhist, Xiong Hong also wrote a small group of Buddhist poems.These include prayers or devotional songs, most of which are short verses using very plain diction. "Shrouded in Smoke" is one such poem included in this anthology.
