Zhang+Ailing

Zhang Ailing (Eileen Chang) 1921-1995
Zhang Ailing came from prominent family, her grandfather was a high-ranking official in the Qing government and grandmother was the daughter of influential Qing official, Li Hongzhang. She graduated from a Christian high school in Shanghai the year the Japanese invaded the city, 1937. She went to study at the University of Hong Kong and in her third year, the Japanese invaded the city. She returned to Shanghai and married Hu Lanchang. He was a journalist accused of collaborating with the Japanese. The couple eventually split; he went to Japan and she stayed in China. Her first published work is about her experience being beaten and locked up by her father. Many works are semi-autobiographical, reflecting on the meshing of old and new, decaying traditions and the glamorous city of Shanghai.

Selected Works:
Rice Sprout Song The Naked Earth Love in a Fallen CIty The Golden Cangue

Works Cited:
Ying, Li-hua. //Historical Dictionary of Modern Chinese Literature.// Lanham, MD: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2010. Print. Thomas Jr, Robert McG., "Eileen Chang, 74, Chinese Writer Revered Outside the Mainland." New York Times, September 13, 1995.