 It fell to her elder brother, Heo Pong, to recognize her budding talent and curiosity and introduce her to literature.From an early age she became recognized as a prodigal poet, though due to her position as a woman she was incapable of entering into a position of distinguishment.Her early piece, "Inscriptions on the Ridge Pole of the White Jade Pavilion in the Kwanghan Palace" ("Kwanghanjeon Paegongnu sangnangmun"), produced at the age of eight, was lauded as a work of poetic genius and earned her the epithet "immortal maiden."