This year, the Chinese literary community has lost four prominent female writers: Chi Pang-yuan, Nie Hualing, Ye Jiaying, and Qiong Yao.

On December 4, renowned writer Qiong Yao was found deceased at her home in Taiwan at the age of 86. The Chinese literary community mourns her passing collectively.

Qiong Yao, whose real name was Chen Zhe, was originally from Hengyang, Hunan. During her lifetime, she was a well-known writer, screenwriter, film producer, and lyricist. Many of her novels were adapted into films or television series, including the “My Fair Princess” trilogy, “A Dream of Red Mansions,” and the “Plum Blossom Trilogy,” which includes “Plum Blossom Burn,” “Ghost Husband,” and “Between Water and Clouds.”

As of December 4, Qiong Yao’s death marks the loss of four prominent female writers in the Chinese literary world this year. They include Qi Bangyuan, who passed away on March 28 in Taiwan, Nie Hualing, who died on October 21 in the United States, Ye Jiaying, who left us on November 24 in Tianjin, and the recently deceased Qiong Yao.

According to previous reports from The Paper, the literary giant Qi Bangyuan died at 1 a.m. on March 28 at the age of 100.

Qi Bangyuan was born in 1924 in Tieling, Liaoning. She was a prominent writer and scholar in Taiwan and the eldest daughter of Qi Shiying, a politician from the Kuomintang. She specialized in Chinese literature, English literature, and American literature.

Qi Bangyuan graduated from the Department of Foreign Languages at National Wuhan University in 1947 and moved to Taiwan the same year. She held various positions, including assistant professor in the Department of Foreign Languages at National Taiwan University, teacher at Taichung First Senior High School, professor and department head at National Chung Hsing University, visiting professor at St. Mary’s College in the U.S., visiting professor at the Free University of Berlin, and professor at National Taiwan University. In 1988, she retired from her professorship at National Taiwan University and was awarded the title of honorary professor.

Her works include the memoir “The Great Flowing River,” the essay “A Day in My Life,” and critiques such as “Tears of a Thousand Years” and “When the Fog Gradually Lifts.” She also edited the English version of “Selected Modern Chinese Literature (Taiwan)” and translated works like “Old Stories from the South of the City.”

Famous Chinese-American writer and translator Nie Hualing passed away at her home in Iowa, USA, on October 21, 2024, at the age of 99.

Nie Hualing was born in 1925 in Wuhan. In 1949, she moved to Taiwan with her family and later went to the U.S. with her husband, Paul Engel, to establish the influential International Writing Program at the University of Iowa. The program is often credited with enhancing the reputation of creative writing at the University of Iowa, thanks to the efforts of Paul Engel and Nie Hualing. She is also referred to as the “Mother of World Literature Organizations” and was one of the most significant promoters of Chinese literature in the 20th century.

Ye Jiaying, a distinguished professor at Nankai University, director of the Institute of Chinese Poetry Education and Classical Culture, senior researcher at the Central Research Institute of Culture and History, fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and an internationally renowned educator and poet, passed away in Tianjin on November 24, 2024, at the age of 100 due to illness.

Ye Jiaying was born in 1924 in Beijing. She graduated from the Department of Chinese Literature at Fu Jen Catholic University in Beijing in 1945. She began teaching at National Taiwan University in 1954. In 1969, she moved to Vancouver, Canada, where she became a tenured professor at the University of British Columbia. In 1991, she was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and served as a visiting professor at prestigious institutions such as Harvard University, Yale University, and Columbia University.

Ye Jiaying always remained connected to her homeland. Since 1979, she returned to mainland China annually to give lectures. She was invited as a visiting professor or honorary professor at various universities and research institutions, including Peking University, Nankai University, Beijing Normal University, Nanjing University, and Sichuan University. In 1993, she founded the “Institute of Comparative Studies of Chinese Literature” at Nankai University, which was later renamed the “Institute of Chinese Poetry Education and Classical Culture,” and served as its director. In 2007, she obtained permanent residency in China and later settled at Nankai University.