Wén Zhènhēng 文震亨 (1585–1645), zì Qǐměi 啟美. Native of Chángzhōu 長洲 (Sūzhōu), Jiāngsū. Great-grandson of Wén Zhēngmíng 文徵明 (1470–1559), the dominant Wú-school painter and calligrapher of the mid-Míng; grandson of Wén Péng 文彭 (1498–1573); son of Wén Cóngjiǎn 文從簡 (1574–1648). Younger brother of Wén Zhènmèng 文震孟 (1574–1636, Grand Secretary under Chóngzhēn). Gòngshēng of the early Tiānqǐ period; held office as Wǔyīng diàn zhōngshū shèrén (Secretariat Drafter at the Wǔyīng Hall) under Chóngzhēn, recruited for his skill in qín-playing.
A painter, calligrapher, qín musician, garden designer, and the definitive theorist of the Sūzhōu literati lifestyle through his Cháng wù zhì 長物志 (KR3j0174). On the Manchu entry into Sūzhōu in 1645, he attempted suicide by drowning; rescued, he refused food for six days and died. His martyr’s death — together with his work as the codifier of the Sūzhōu literati aesthetic — has made him an emblematic figure of the late-Míng / Sūzhōu cultural world.
Extensively treated in Craig Clunas, Superfluous Things (Polity, 1991/2004), and in the Dictionary of Ming Biography under Wén Zhēngmíng (lineage entry).