Chen Ke, whose courtesy name was Zigao and who adopted the art name Chicheng Jushi, was a native of Tiantai in present-day Zhejiang province, though some historical sources also note him as a resident of Linhai who sojourned in Jinling. Flourishing during the turbulent transition and stabilization of the Southern Song dynasty around the early to mid-twelfth century, Chen Ke embarked on a distinguished bureaucratic and literary career. During the Shaoxing reign period, he served as a Codification Official in the Imperial decree-drafting office (Chiling Suo Shanding Guan). Later, when Lü Zhi assumed military command at Jiankang, Chen Ke was appointed as a military and policy advisor (Canyijun), participating directly in regional statecraft during a critical era of imperial defense and reconstruction.
As a lyricist, Chen Ke aligned himself with the ornate, sensuous aesthetic lineage historically traced back to Tang and Five Dynasties masters Wen Tingyun and Wei Zhuang, while also absorbing the structural subtlety of Northern Song giants like Yan Shu and Zhou Bangyan. His poetic style is characterized by exquisite diction, lush imagery, and a melancholic romanticism that captures the poignant sentiments of parting, solitude, and seasonal transition. Among his surviving lyric compositions, the masterpiece beginning with the famous line Green weeds wind around the mossy courtyard set to the tune of Bodhisattva Barbarian (Pusa Man) stands out as an exemplary showcase of his mastery over musical cadence, emotional resonance, and vivid spatial evocation.
Chen Ke's inner artistic persona reflects a profound dualism typical of the literati elite caught between public duty and private contemplation. On one hand, his tenure as an imperial bureaucrat and military advisor underscores a deeply internalized Confucian sense of civic responsibility, loyalty to the throne, and administrative diligence. On the other hand, his adopted sobriquet, Chicheng Jushi (Lay Buddhist of Mount Chicheng), reveals a deep-rooted Daoist and Buddhist inclination toward detachment, reclusion in picturesque natural landscapes, and spiritual tranquility. This tension between the bustling bureaucratic obligations of Jiankang and the serene contemplative ideals of his native Tiantai mountains infuses his lyrics with a delicate psychological depth and a refined sense of existential elegance.
Although his broader poetry collection titled Tiantai Ji has been lost to time, Chen Ke's lyric poetry has been meticulously preserved through historical anthologies such as the Hu'an Ci Xuan and Cilin Jishi, leading to modern compiled editions like the Chicheng Ci. Traditional critics and anthologists have consistently praised his ci verse for its stylistic brilliance, noting its stylistic kinship with the greatest masters of the classical lyrical canon. In contemporary international Sinology, Chen Ke is studied as a vital representative of Southern Song ci poetry, offering modern scholars a crucial window into the evolution of classical aesthetics during a period of dynastic renaissance and artistic refinement.