Life

She was born in 1771 into an artistic family in Yanghu in Changzhou. Her aunt, Yun Bing, was a skilled artist. and her great grandfather, Yun Shouping, was a renowned painter. During her birth her grandmother had a dream that a stranger gave her a large shining pearl. Taking this as a sign she was called "Zhu" the word for pearl.

Her father was a jailer but she married Wanglan Tinglu who was a Manchu aristocrat. They had four children Wanyan Linqing in 1791, Wanyan Linchang in 1792, Wanyan Linshu in 1794 and a daughter the following year.

She wrote and collected poems. Her favourite son Linqing discovered that his mother had collected over 3,000 poems by women during her childhood and as an adult. Possibly without her consent Linqing arranged for some to published in 1814. Yun was annoyed as she felt that only poems intended for posterity should be published. Her Drafts poems and Lyrics from Hongxiang Library went to be reprinted in 1866 and 1928.

She restarted her life at the age of 50 following the death of her husband in 1820, the year before. She took a pen name of Adept of the Lotus Lake. She went to live with her son and this meant that we know of her life from his autobiography. He was an expert in water conservation in Anhui province. When he moved from the Huizhou prefecture, she wanted to travel via the sights of Xin'an, so she wanted a route through the Dahong mountain. Linqing obliged and he led the way giving her a commentary. Linqing decided to get a painting made of her following his lead up steep mountain paths in a sedan chair.

Her pre-eminent work was a book of poetry called Women's Poetry: anthology for a Correct Beginning. The book included 933 different authors and 1,700 poems. It took twenty years to complete and it included poets from Korea and Mongolia. Yun was able to travel widely as accompanied her father on his business trips. The proof reading of the book was completed by her granddaughters and her daughters in law.

She was known as "Dame dowager of the first rank" and had been given other honours by the Imperial court. She taught three sons and fourteen grandchildren before she died in 1833. She died without her favourite son ashehadbeen ordered by the emperor to become the Governor of Guizhou. This was a challenge for Linqing as he did not want to leave. However fear of bandits and of disobeying the emperor meant that he had to journey alone. His split loyalties are shown in the paintings and poetry he created en route. After she died Linqing took her remains to Beijing for burial.

生平

乾隆三十六年（1771年）陰曆六月十八日生，曾祖父惲壽平，父親惲毓秀。據說出生前，其祖母夢見一婦人送來一顆大明珠，因此給孫女取名珠。十歲時能詩，十三時能工繡，善繪事，被女畫家、姑母惲冰欣賞。

惲珠少女時傾慕耶律常哥，願仿效她終生不嫁。十四歲時，完顏岱夫人索綽羅氏讓惲珠作一首以〈錦雞〉為題的詩，後者援筆立成，詩云：「閒對清波照彩衣，徧身金錦世應稀。一朝脫卻樊籠去，好向朝陽學鳳飛。」，因此受索綽羅氏賞識而說親議婚，在十八歲時嫁給完顏廷璐作正室，為當時少見的滿漢聯姻。加拿大漢學家指出，因為惲壽平有漢軍旗人的養父子關係，使滿漢聯姻具有合法性。

丈夫官至知府，生麟慶、麟昌、麟書、以及一女，後因麟慶被封為一品太夫人。晚年有四位孫子、十位孫女。惲珠少年曾自夢見到一海島，有人告訴她前生為菩薩侍女，島為紅香島，而繪有〈紅島侍書圖〉。

惲珠重視儒家禮教，信仰佛教，喜食素食、刻印佛經與醫書、作功德事，又仿照《列女傳》，編有《蘭閨寶錄》以推廣傳統的倫理道德。惲珠平日寫的詩作，由兒子私下印行，名為《紅香館集詩詞草》，有詩七十八首、詩餘六首。她知道後，說不足傳世，叫兒子不要再印。

惲珠被譽為滿漢文化融合、閨秀文化的典範，最知名的成就為歷時十七年編輯的《國朝閨秀正始集》。此書共二十卷，收錄清朝女子的詩作，共九百三十三人，一千七百餘首。她在書中表示收錄作者的標準限於閨秀女子，尼姑、道士、妓女等蓋置不錄，但少數具有晚節的青樓女子的作品選入附錄。她認為女子的詩作要有敦厚溫柔之旨，不可浮艷。作者來自各地，有滿、漢、蒙族之外，還有少數為哈密、土司、朝鮮女子。此書於1831年刊成後，許多女子將詩作寄來，希望能收錄於續集，惲珠一一收集頻加刪定，校對由十位孫女幫忙，媳婦們監督。

道光十三年（1833年）陰曆四月十四日，惲珠臨終時將未完成的續集交給孫女完顏妙蓮保，盼望能完成。惲珠去世後，妙蓮保以三年時間編成十卷《國朝閨秀正始續集》，又附錄一卷，共收錄共四百五十九人，九百一十九首，末錄輓詩一冊以誌雅誼，於道光十六年（1836年）印行。

畫作

繪有〈紅島侍書圖〉、〈百花手卷〉、〈金魚紫綬圖〉、〈錦灰堆圖〉、〈多喜圖〉等。

著作

著有《紅香館集詩詞草》、《鶴背青囊》、《閨簽》，纂有《蘭閨寶錄》及《國朝閨秀正始集》。