What is the best way to explain women's determination and persistence in writing poetry, while trying to get recognition in a sphere where they were not fully recognized and accepted? According to Chang, women became poets for the same reasons—external reasons at least—that men did. The place of honor accorded to poetry among literary genres is one of the few constants in the long and varied Chinese literary tradition, whereas fiction was generally seen as a commercial venture. An upper class writer—man or woman—had to write verse to claim respectability.
