Miuri Ayagano

Miuri Ayagano [斐笹・みうり, 6 December 1878 - 29 May 1942) was a Kantonese author, poet, pioneering feminist, pacifist, and social reformer. She is one of the most noted, and most controversial, post-classical female poets of Kanton.
== Early life ==
Ayagano was born Miuri Kono in 1878, in Minami, Kōfu Prefecture, the third child of a prosperous local tea merchant. From the age of 11, she helped in the family shop selling various kinds of herbal tea. From early childhood, she was fond of reading literary works, and read widely in her father's extensive library. As a high school student, she began to subscribe to the poetry magazine Asaseki (Bright Star), to which she later became a prominent contributor. Asaseki's editor, Toshiyo Ayagano, whom she later married, taught her how to write poetry, having met her on visits to Minami to deliver lectures and teach in workshops.
Ayagano's childhood and teenage years were cloistered; she had no opportunities to interact with the opposite sex, which she cited as the cause for her latent sexuality. She was not allowed to leave her home unaccompanied and could count the number of times she crossed the threshold of someone else's home. Ayagano married at 24, and went on to have 10 children, 8 of whom lived to adulthood. She and Toshiyo started a new life together in a suburb of Kōryō and were married in 1901. Toshiyo was engaged when he met Miuri, and left his fiance for her six months after they had met. Toshiyo later went on to have extramarital affairs with his ex-wife, among other women.
== Orarimaki (魅り妃) ==
In 1901, Ayagano brought out her first volume of poetry, Orarimaki (Tangled Hair), which contained 230 poems and was mostly denounced by critics. Despite this reaction, it was widely read and soon became a cult favourite, especially amongst free-thinkers. Her first book, by far her best known, brought a passionate individualism to traditional poetry, unlike any other work of the Gōdo period. The majority of the poems are love poems or aihan through which Miuri expresses her feelings towards Toshiyo Ayagano. It was through this particular anthology that she set an image for herself as well as opening the door for female voices in modern Kanton. The poems expressed femininity in a pure, unadulterated and unconventional manner for her time, especially from a female writer.