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Zhang Jie

チャン・ジエ

Zhang Jie

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1937-04-27 （Beijing, China）
Died
2022-01-21 （New York State, U.S.） age 84
Nationality
China
Languages
Chinese
Residence History
Beijing, China → Fushun, Liaoning, China → New York State, U.S.

Career

Occupations
writer, novelist, short-story writer
Active Years
1960-2022
Affiliations
China Writers Association, International PEN China Center, Beijing Writers' Association (served as vice chair)
Memberships
China Writers Association, International PEN China Center

Education

Renmin University of China
Department of Statistics / Statistics
Period: 1956–1960
Year of Graduation: 1960
Country: China

Awards

Mao Dun Literature Prize (2nd)
1985
Work: Leaden Wings
Organization: Mao Dun Literature Prize committee
Result: 受賞
Mao Dun Literature Prize (6th)
2005
Work: Wordless
Organization: Mao Dun Literature Prize committee
Result: 受賞
Best Short Stories of 1978
1978
Work: The Child of the Forest
Result: 受賞
Best Short Stories of 1979
1979
Work: Who Knows How to Live
Result: 受賞
Best Short Stories of 1983
1983
Work: The Time Is Not Yet Ripe
Result: 受賞
Best Novellas of 1983–1984
1984
Work: Emerald
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Child of the Forest

1978 short story / scar literature

A scar literature short story set during the Cultural Revolution, depicting the struggles of a student aspiring musician and showing how art can sustain the human spirit.

Cultural Revolutionart and humanitysuffering and resilience

Leaden Wings

1981 novel / social realism

A novel set in a ministry of heavy industry, following cadres and their families confronted with enterprise reform; it explores the tension between reform ideals and social realities, and personal relationships.

reformorganization vs individualfamilymarriage
Translations
  • German translation (1982)
  • English edition (Virago Press, 1987)

The Ark

1982 novel

Follows three women who form a communal living arrangement to escape the pain of unsatisfactory marriages and social bias, exploring loneliness and spiritual pursuit of educated women.

women's liberationcommunal livingsocial inequality

Wordless

2002 novel

Centers on a female writer, Wu Wei, interweaving personal marital stories with broader generational women's experiences and social change; examines women's demands for love, marriage and family freedom.

women's liveslove and marriageintergenerational experience

Bibliography

  • The Child of the Forest (1978)
  • Love Must Not Be Forgotten (1979)
  • Leaden Wings (1981)
  • The Ark (1982)
  • Emerald (1984)
  • Wordless (2002)

Translations of Works

  • Leaden Wings — German translation (1982); English edition (Virago Press, 1987)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
realismfemale-centered perspectivedetailed psychological depiction of emotionselements of scar literature
Recurring Motifs
mother–daughter relationshipswomen's fate and choiceslove and sacrificesocial reform vs individual

Legacy

Zhang Jie was a leading contemporary Chinese female writer known for works about mother–daughter relationships and women's lives. She is the only author to win the Mao Dun Literature Prize twice; her works have had wide influence and have been included in school curricula.

Academic Societies

  • China Writers Association

In Popular Culture

  • Inclusion of some works in secondary-school textbooks

Quotes

  • I created many female images to explore the destinies and situations women face.
    Source: Interview (summarized)

Trivia

  • The only writer to have won the Mao Dun Literature Prize twice.
  • Many works are included in junior and senior high school textbooks.
  • Co-authored a biography of film director Wu Zuguang in 1986.
  • Was sent to a May Seventh Cadre School during the Cultural Revolution.
  • Joined the Communist Party in 1980.