- Zhang Tianyi
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▪ Chinese authorWade-Giles romanization Chang T'ien-i , original name Zhang Yuandingborn September 26, 1906, Nanjing, Jiangsu province, Chinadied April 28, 1985, BeijingChinese writer whose brilliant, socially realistic short stories achieved considerable renown in the 1930s.Zhang was born into a scholarly family. In 1924 he graduated from a secondary school in Hangzhou and began writing, at first working in the detective-story genre. The following year he moved to Beijing and, stimulated by the intellectual activity there, began to write satirical stories. His first short story, "Sanriban zhi meng" (1928; “A Dream of Three-and-a-Half Days”), was written in a realistic and direct manner. Collections of his stories include Xiao Bide (1931; “Little Peter”), Tuanyuan (1935; “Family Reunion”), and Suxie sanpian (1943; “Three Sketches”). The story "Hua Wei xiansheng" (1937; “Mr. Huawei”), which is about a hypocritical politician, is commonly considered his best. He also wrote several satirical novels, including Guitu riji (1931; “Ghostland Diary”) and Yanglingbang (1936; “The Strange Knight-Errant of the Shanghai Concessions”). Zhang was also a renowned author of children's literature. The children's book Da Lin he Xiao Lin (1933; Big Lin and Little Lin) was particularly popular.Zhang's career as a short-story writer was curtailed in 1943, when tuberculosis forced him to retire. After recuperating in the late 1940s, he was assigned to a position in the new communist regime as a writer of children's literature. From then on, he published didactic stories and one-act plays for children, including the story "Luo Wenying de gushi" (1952; “The Story of Luo Wenying”). Beginning in 1957, he also served as editor in chief of the magazine Renmin wenxue (“People's Literature”).
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Universalium. 2010.
