Heo Nanseolheon

Heo Nanseolheon
Korean name
Hangul
Hanja
Revised Romanization	Heo Chohui
McCune–Reischauer	Hŏ Ch'ohŭi
Pen name
Hangul
Hanja
Revised Romanization	Heo Nanseolheon
McCune–Reischauer	Hŏ Nansŏrhŏn

Heo Nanseolheon (1563–1589), born Heo Chohui, was a prominent Korean poet of the mid-Joseon dynasty. She was the younger sister of Heo Pong, a minister and political writer, and elder to Heo Gyun (1569–1618), a prominent writer of the time and credited as the author of The Tale of Hong Gildong. Her own writings consisted of some two hundred poems written in Chinese verse (hanshi), and two poems written in hangul (though her authorship of the hangul poems is contested).

Heo Nanseolheon was born in Gangneung to a prominent political family (yangban). Her father, Heo Yeop (), was a distinguished scholar and fathered her by his second marriage. His first was to a daughter of Prince Seop'yeong, who yielded two daughters and a son. His second marriage was to a daughter of a political minister, who mothered Nanseolheon and her two brothers. While her father was a Confucian and conservative official who subscribed tightly to the belief of namjon-yubi ("men above, women below"). It fell to her elder brother, Heo Pong, to recognize her budding talent and curiosity and introduce her to literature.

From an early age she became recognized as a prodigal poet, though due to her position as a woman she was incapable of entering into a position of distinguishment. Her early piece, "Inscriptions on the Ridge Pole of the White Jade Pavilion in the Kwanghan Palace" (Kwanghanjeon Paegongnu sangnangmun), produced at the age of eight, was lauded as a work of poetic genius and earned her the epithet "immortal maiden." Her innate talent for hanmun (Chinese) verse prompted him to be her first tutor in her early years, and introduce her to Chinese writing, such as the Confucian Five Classics.

However, Heo Pong was also an outspoken and influential political scholar, and was eventually exiled to Kapsan for three years for his political leanings. Her younger brother, Heo Gyun, was a similarly gifted poet who studied under Yi Tal (), a specialist of Tang poetry and a friend of Heo Pong, and he took part in her education, especially after her elder brother's exile. He fostered her education later in life, and used his preferred position as a highly respected male to keep her in correspondence with literary circles. Yi Tal, his tutor, also engaged in sharing Tang poetry with Nanseolheon, whose influence became visible in the naturalism of a significant portion of her surviving work.

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