Literature
Eileen Chang
Novelist, one of the most important Chinese writers of the century
Born 1920 · Died 1995
Photo: Unknown authorUnknown author · Public domain
Eileen Chang wrote about love and survival in wartime Shanghai and Hong Kong with a precision that made her one of the defining Chinese writers of the twentieth century. Her novella Lust, Caution was filmed by Ang Lee.
Key achievements
- Wrote Love in a Fallen City and Lust, Caution
- Won a University of London scholarship, blocked by the war
- Lust, Caution was filmed by Ang Lee, 2007
Universities
Hong Kong Island, Pok Fu Lam
Studied literature from 1939 on a scholarship and had to leave in 1941 when the Japanese occupation closed the university.
Facts
- The Japanese attack on Hong Kong interrupted her final examinations and she never completed the degree.
- She had won a scholarship to the University of London but could not take it up because of the war in Europe.
- She spent her last decades in near seclusion in Los Angeles and was found dead in her apartment days after dying alone.
Photographs
Photographs come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences; the author and licence are shown on each image.