Su Hui was a celebrated literary talent during China's Northern and Southern Dynasties. Her husband, Dou Tao, initially served as the governor of Qinzhou under the Former Qin emperor, but after offending Fu Jian, he was stripped of his post and exiled to the northwestern desert for military service.
Su Hui and her husband had always been deeply in love, so his exile to military service was a devastating blow to her. Yet her devotion remained unwavering, and she spent her days and nights longing for his return, praying he would come home soon.
Su Hui, a woman of considerable literary talent and a gift for poetry, poured her deep longing for her absent husband into her verses, crafting heartfelt and moving poems that captured her sorrow and affection.
Over several years, Su Hui's poems accumulated, and she revised them repeatedly until they formed a circular palindrome poem. This intricate piece contained 841 characters arranged in a 29-by-29 grid, which, when read in various directions, could yield 3,752 distinct poems.
When the palindrome poem spread, everyone who saw it marveled, calling it a masterpiece of unparalleled genius.
Some time later, Su Hui wanted to send this palindrome poem to her husband. Fearing that paper would be damaged during the long journey, she wove the poem onto a piece of brocade using five-colored silk threads. The brocade, eight inches square, was vibrant and dazzling. Su Hui named it the "Brocade Palindrome Poem."
Soon after, Su Hui exhausted every means to finally send her brocade palindrome poem to her husband, Dou Tao. As he read each verse his wife had written, Dou Tao felt the depth of her affection for him and was deeply moved.
Later, the idiom "Brocade Palindrome" came to refer to a wife's letter or love poem; it could also express boudoir longing or praise a woman's beautifully crafted literary work.
Source: *Book of Jin*, "Biographies of Exemplary Women"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "织锦回文" came to describe a wife's letter or love poem; it could also express boudoir longing or praise a woman's beautifully crafted literary work.