Li Fei-kan (1904-), anarchist writer known as Pa Chin, whose novels and short stories achieved popularity in the 1930's and 1940's. Born in Chengtu, Szechwan, Li Fei-kan came from a wealthy and educated gentry family. His early childhood was spent in Chengtu except for three years in Kuangyuan, where his father was magistrate from 1906 […]

Chou Yang (1908-), literary theorist better known for his advocacy of Chinese Communist theories than for his literary achievements. After 1949, he became responsible for issuing Chinese Communist party directives in cultural matters and for detecting deviations from party doctrine in literature and the arts. Nothing is known about Chou Yang's childhood or his family […]

Hsieh Wan-ying (5 October 1900-), known as Ping Hsin, was a poet, essayist, and short story writer. A native of Minhou, Fukien, Hsieh Wan-ying was born into a prosperous family in Foochow. Her father, Hsieh Pao-chang, was an officer in the Chinese naval service. When Hsieh Wanying was only a few months old, her mother […]

Ho Ch'i-fang (1910-), poet, journalist, and literary critic, was a prize-winning poet in his youth and an admirer of Western literature. He later became a leading figure in the Chinese Communist cultural hierarchy and a close associate of Chou Yang (q.v.). Little is known about Ho Ch'i-fang's family or early life except that he was […]

Wan Chia-pao (1910-), known as Ts'ao Yü, playwright whose best-known work was Lei-yü [thunderstorm]. After 1949 he devoted himself to cultural activities in the People's Republic of China. Wan joined the Chinese Communist party in 1957. Born in Ch'ienchiang, Hupeh, Ts'ao Yü came from a well-to-do family. He attended the Nankai Middle School in Tientsin, […]