Kou Baimen

Kou Baimen (, born 1624 ) was a Chinese courtesan, poet, and one of the Eight Beauties of Qinhuai (Chinese: 秦淮八艳) during the Ming-Qing transition period.

Biography Kou Baimen was born Kou Mei in 1624. She lived in Qinhuai District of Nanjing, and was officially registered as a courtesan with the Southern Entertainment Bureau, the official government agency responsible for training and management of courtesans in China. They married in a lavish ceremony with 5,000 soldiers lining the route from Wudong Bridge to Zhu's home at Nei Bridge. She followed a maid on a horseback to Qinhuai, and became a nüxia , building gardens, entertaining friends, and regularly consorting with poets and artists. Although the appellate of nüxia or xianu in fiction and drama is meant to convey the subject's adeptness in martial arts and feats of vengeance, in this instance, the term "connotes unconventional behavior, courage, generosity, resoluteness, andindependence of spirit."

Baimen hosted the poet in 1655 and he wrote 3 poems for her. She was also painted by several artists of the time, including Fan Qi and Wu Hong.