Zhang Henshui (Chinese: 张恨
Zhang Henshui | |
---|---|
Chinese: 张恨 | |
Born | Zhang Xinyuan May 18, 1895 |
Died | |
Occupation | Writer |
Early life
editOn May 18, 1895, Zhang was born in Nanchang, Jiangxi province, China. Zhang was educated until age 16 in Suzhou, China. At age 16, Zhang's father died. Zhang moved to Qianshan, Anhui, his ancestral home.[1]
Career
editKeen in classical vernacular (baihua) literature since youth, he began composing in the vein of zhanghui xiaoshuo (
Zhang started his career as a member of a theatre troupe. Zhang joined the press in 1918 as an editor. Zhang became a journalist in Wuhan. In 1919, Zhang became a newspaper editor in Beijing, China.[1]
Zhang took up novel-writing as a hobby. The first of his novels serialized was A Pining Song for the Southern Country (
The fourth of his major works, Eighty-One Dreams (
It is estimated that throughout his life Zhang wrote a total of some 30 million Chinese characters in over 110 novels. His works emphasize realistic dialogue, often interposing people from different social strata and were thus hugely popular amongst the Chinese public from 1920s to 1940s.
Works
editTranslated works
editPersonal life
editOn February 15, 1967, Zhang died of a brain hemorrhage as he was getting out of bed in Beijing, China.[1][4]
Media adaptations
editSome television series are based on works by Zhang. A Family of Distinction has been adapted at least twice, once during the 1980s, when Hong Kong television broadcaster Television Broadcasts Limited produced the series Yesterday’s Glitter,[5] and during the 2000s, with the Mainland China television series The Story of a Noble Family.[6]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c "Zhang Henshui". silkgauzeaudio.com. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
- ^ Chang, Henshui (Spring–Autumn 1982). "Fate in Tears of Laughter" (PDF). Renditions. Vol. 17–18. Translated by Sally Borthwick. pp. 255–287 – via Chinese University of Hong Kong. - See profile page
- ^ "Shanghai Express". silkgauzeaudio.com. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
- ^ "Henshui Zhang (1895-1967)". bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved January 10, 2021.
- ^ "《
京 华春梦》主演 何 在 ? 四花旦如梦人生" [Where are the lead actors for Yesterday’s Glitter? The dream-like life of the four female leads]. Southern Metropolis Daily (Via Sina.com) (in Simplified Chinese). 29 April 2015. Retrieved 26 August 2020. - ^ "year later, Disney finds their leading lady for live-action Mulan". The New Indian Express. 29 November 2017. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
Her first television appearance was in The Story of a Noble Family (2003), based on Zhang Henshui's novel of the same name.
Additional sources
edit- Zhang Henshui and Popular Chinese Fiction, 1919-1949 by Thomas Michael McClellan (Edwin Mellen Press, 2005)