Abstract: Writing posture is the external manifestation of a poet's writing mentality. In the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911), widows in the regions south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River (traditionally referred to as “Jiangnan”) often lamented their husbands with tears and expressed their grief in poems long and short. Mental postures underlying composition of these poems reminiscent of their loved ones can be roughly divided into eight kinds: 1) grief over the lost loves; 2) wish to join the deceased in the after world; 3) remembrance on special days; 4) commitment to carrying on filial duties; 5) difficulties in up-brining the children; 6) moments touched by past memories; 7) helplessness facing a wandering life in a troubled time; and 8) mixed emotions of seeing husbands in dreams. These postures all truly present the self-images of these widows in the Qing Dynasty under different time nodes and circumstances, revealing all aspects of their lives of sadness, despair, pain, struggle and deep mourning as well as their real personalities.

Key words: Qing Dynasty, Jiangnan (regions south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River), widow, mourning poem for late husband, writing posture