Qiu Jin
After her father’s death in 1890, she married Zeng Zhuangang (the cousin of Zeng Guofan) in 1891, at the age of 19. He was from the neighbouring village of Heye (Lotus Leaf), from an elite family well connected to another famous feminist leader of China, Qiu Jin. This association benefitted her with new political thoughts and contacts. Her first and only daughter died at the age of three in 1896 due to fever and her husband followed suit in 1897. She then returned to her parental family, though it was not customary to do so, (her feminist friends like Qiu Jin encouraged her to become independent) to the "Three Good Fortune Hall". She devoted herself to serious studies of books, and caring for her mother and brothers. She read widely on reforms in society. She catalogued her father’s books and wrote poetry. Her friend, Qiu Jin, also supplied her books from Japan when she was living in Peking, prior to her departure to Japan. One of the books which influenced her most was the "Book of the Great Unity", which vividly brought out the condition of women in China, and she wrote a poem giving her thoughts on the effect of the book under the title “My thoughts on reading Datong shu.” Her mother died in 1918.