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 […]

Chang Tzu-p'ing (1893-?), author and geologist, was a founder of the Creation Society and a writer of popular romantic fiction. During the Sino-Japanese war, he served in the Japanese-sponsored government ofWangChingwei. Meihsien, Kwangtung, was the birthplace of Chang Tzu-p'ing. His father was a sheng-yuan in straitened circumstances who gave his son his early instruction in […]

Yü Ta-fu (1896-September 1945), a founding member of the Creation Society and one of the most important Chinese writers of the 1920's. The youngest of three boys born into a poor but scholarly family in Fuyang, Ghekiang, Yü Ta-fu received his early education in a variety of schools, including the Hangchow First Middle School. He […]

Hsü Pei-hung (19 July 1895-26 September 1953), artist, was best known for his mastery of both Chinese and Western painting techniques and for his powerful studies of galloping horses. A native of the Ihsing district of Kiangsu, Hsü Pei-hung was the eldest of six children; he had two brothers and three sisters. His father, Hsü […]

Hsien Hsing-hai (1905-30 September 1945), French-trained composer. He combined music and leftist politics in such compositions as the National Symphony and War in a Noble Cause. The son of a Cantonese boat worker, Hsien Hsing-hai was born in P'anyü, Kwangtung. His father died before Hsien was born, and in 1911 Hsien's mother emigrated with her […]

Hsiung Fo-hsi (1900-26 October 1965), playwright, educator, and critic, was a leading creator of "popular drama," plays written to educate the peasantry. Fengch'eng, Kiangsi, was the birthplace of Hsiung Fo-hsi. At the time of the 1911 revolution, Hsiung's father took him to Hankow, where he completed his primary and middle school education. He evinced an […]

Nieh Erh (1911-17 July 1935), composer who wrote the music for "March of the Volunteers," which was adopted as the official national anthem of the People's Republic of China in 1949. The son of a practitioner of Chinese medicine, Nieh Erh was born in Kunming. His father died when he was only four years old, […]

Ou-yang Yü-ch'ien (1887-21 September 1962), teacher, actor, playwright, and director whose career reflects the development of drama and cinema in twentieth-century China. Liuyang, Hunan, was the birthplace of Ou-yang Yü-ch'ien. His paternal grandfather, Ou-yang Chung-ku, was provincial treasurer of Kwangsi during the last years of the Ch'ing dynasty, and his maternal grandfather, Liu Jen-hsi, was […]

Mei Lan-fang (22 October 1894-8 August 1961), Peking opera star who was the outstanding figure in the Chinese theater during the first half of the twentieth century and who was the last link with the great old acting tradition of imperial China. Yangchow, Kiangsu, was the native place of Mei Lan-fang. His grandfather, Mei Ch'iaoling, […]

Hung Shen (1893-29 August 1955), plav-wright, director, and drama critic. He used Western techniques in his stage productions and played an important part in the development of sound films in China. After 1949 he was prominent in cultural administration at Peking, and he served as vice chairman of the Chinese Stage Artists. A native of […]