Ema Saiko (1787-1861) distinguished herself as a writer of kanshi at a time when composition in Chinese was the strict province of men. She wrote poems considered the equal of those by male poets and scholars.

Organized chronologically, these poems provide an engaging portrait of an artist's life. A leading member of three kanshi-writing groups, she counted among her friends poets, scholars, painters, physicians, and other prominent people. Saiko used kanshi as a diary, a canvas, and a mirror, weaving observations of her Wends and of simple pleasures: intoxication, reading, painting, contemplation, the excitement of trips and the joys of evening walks. But Saiko also uses kanshi to reflect on changes in her life -- the growth and illnessesz of family members, as well as her own physical decline. Because of its greater length than shorter forms, tanka and haiku, kanshi encompasses a greater range of subjects and offers richer, more sustained descriptions.