A 16-year-old student has won a televised Chinese poetry competition winning fans over with her keen knowledge of the country’s ancient culture and works.

    Wu Yishu, a student at the High School Affiliated to Fudan University in Shanghai, beat other competitors in the second season of the “Chinese Poetry Conference” on China Central Television on February 7.

    “I get feelings from ancient poetry that modern people cannot give me. I pay little attention to the competition results, but I love poetry, and it is enough as long as I enjoy the happiness brought by poetry,” Wu said.

    In the final, Wu performed strongly in many sections, such as competitors recalling poems by looking at sand paintings and reciting as many poems as they could think of relating to the Chinese character “jiu,” meaning liquor.

    As early as February 1, when Wu recited an ancient Chinese poem about the months of the year, the judges estimated that Wu must have memorized more than 2,000 Chinese ancient works.

    Wu’s strong performance in the Chinese ancient rhythm works earned her many fans and inspired others to learn ancient works. Web users commented that “Wu meets all the fantasy we have about a talented woman.”

    The 1.8-meter-tall Wu said that she kept only one ancient poetry book on bookshelves in her dormitory room instead of other books such as math, physics and chemistry books that her classmates have kept on their bookshelves.

    She is known among her classmates and teachers as she loves reading poetry and wearing ancient Chinese clothing.

    Zhou Hong, a professor from the Department of Chinese Language and Literature of East China Normal University, said that he read some of the girl’s poetry in 2015, and had published some on his blog.

    (China Daily)