Belinda Chang
Encyclopedia
Belinda Chang is a Chinese-language
author from Taiwan
. She graduated from National Taiwan University
's Chinese department, and went on to earn a master's degree in performance culture from New York University
. After living in the United States for thirteen years, she later relocated to Beijing
and then Shanghai
.
. Her son was born around the time of her first collection of short stories. That collection, entitled Women in the Locker Room, featured sixteen stories; her next collection, The Night of the Flood, contained fourteen. Most of her protagonists were women from Taiwan who had come to the United States for their studies. Her third work and first full-length novel, The City of Plague, described the mid-life crises
of the Chinese residents of Queens, New York City
's Flushing
district; she wrote it as a form of farewell to her own youth. Many readers in Taiwan mistook the title as a reference to SARS
, but in fact it came from a 1999 outbreak
of West Nile virus
infections in New York, which had provided Chang's original impetus for writing the novel.
In June 2004, Chang announced that she would follow her husband to Beijing
, China
, where he was being sent by his employer, a mobile phone technology company. The North America Chinese Writers' Association held a farewell banquet in her honor. After arriving in China, she finished her third collection of short stories, Two Ships in the Night, which touched on the themes of middle age, having children, and living in China; in total, they had taken her seven years to write. She and her family would live in Beijing for barely more than a year before relocating to Shanghai in August 2005. After the move, Chang flew to San Jose
with her son to visit relatives and took a cruise to Alaska
before returning to her new home in Shanghai. A collection of essays featuring her lives in Beijing and Shanghai was published in 2008, titled Being the Neighbor of Eileen Chang. Chang has since been drawn to the lives and struggles of people from Taiwan living in Shanghai, and thus completed another short story collection on the subject, titled Crossing the Boundary.
and Wang Der-wei
. Her works won her the "Best short story from a new author" prize from her publisher, as well as a later literary prize from the Central Daily News
.
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
author from Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
. She graduated from National Taiwan University
National Taiwan University
National Taiwan University is a national co-educational university located in Taipei, Republic of China . In Taiwan, it is colloquially known as "Táidà" . Its main campus is set upon 1,086,167 square meters in Taipei's Da'an District. In addition, the university has 6 other campuses in Taiwan,...
's Chinese department, and went on to earn a master's degree in performance culture from New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
. After living in the United States for thirteen years, she later relocated to Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
and then Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
.
Career
Chang launched her writing career while living in the United States and working as a reporter for the World JournalWorld Journal
World Journal is a daily Chinese language newspaper serving overseas Chinese in North America. The newspaper has its headquarters in Whitestone, Queens, New York City....
. Her son was born around the time of her first collection of short stories. That collection, entitled Women in the Locker Room, featured sixteen stories; her next collection, The Night of the Flood, contained fourteen. Most of her protagonists were women from Taiwan who had come to the United States for their studies. Her third work and first full-length novel, The City of Plague, described the mid-life crises
Mid-life crisis
Midlife crisis is a term coined in 1965 by Elliott Jaques and used in Western societies to describe a period of dramatic self-doubt that is felt by some individuals in the "middle years" or middle age of life, as a result of sensing the passing of their own youth and the imminence of their old age...
of the Chinese residents of Queens, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
's Flushing
Flushing, Queens
Flushing, founded in 1645, is a neighborhood in the north central part of the City of New York borough of Queens, east of Manhattan.Flushing was one of the first Dutch settlements on Long Island. Today, it is one of the largest and most diverse neighborhoods in New York City...
district; she wrote it as a form of farewell to her own youth. Many readers in Taiwan mistook the title as a reference to SARS
Severe acute respiratory syndrome
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome is a respiratory disease in humans which is caused by the SARS coronavirus . Between November 2002 and July 2003 an outbreak of SARS in Hong Kong nearly became a pandemic, with 8,422 cases and 916 deaths worldwide according to the WHO...
, but in fact it came from a 1999 outbreak
Progress of the West Nile virus in the United States
The West Nile virus quickly spread across North America after its introduction in 1999. The virus is believed to have entered in an infected bird or mosquito, although there is no clear evidence. The disease spread quickly through infected birds. Mosquitoes spread the disease to mammals. It was...
of West Nile virus
West Nile virus
West Nile virus is a virus of the family Flaviviridae. Part of the Japanese encephalitis antigenic complex of viruses, it is found in both tropical and temperate regions. It mainly infects birds, but is known to infect humans, horses, dogs, cats, bats, chipmunks, skunks, squirrels, domestic...
infections in New York, which had provided Chang's original impetus for writing the novel.
In June 2004, Chang announced that she would follow her husband to Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, where he was being sent by his employer, a mobile phone technology company. The North America Chinese Writers' Association held a farewell banquet in her honor. After arriving in China, she finished her third collection of short stories, Two Ships in the Night, which touched on the themes of middle age, having children, and living in China; in total, they had taken her seven years to write. She and her family would live in Beijing for barely more than a year before relocating to Shanghai in August 2005. After the move, Chang flew to San Jose
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
with her son to visit relatives and took a cruise to Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
before returning to her new home in Shanghai. A collection of essays featuring her lives in Beijing and Shanghai was published in 2008, titled Being the Neighbor of Eileen Chang. Chang has since been drawn to the lives and struggles of people from Taiwan living in Shanghai, and thus completed another short story collection on the subject, titled Crossing the Boundary.
Critical response
Chang's short stories have received a positive critical response from literary critics Hsia Chih-tsingHsia Chih-tsing
Hsia Chih-tsing is a renowned Chinese literary critic and an academic. He was born in Pudong, Shanghai. Hsia graduated at the defunct University of Shanghai. At September 1946, he followed his brother to Peking University to be a teacher's aide. During this period of time, he continued to study...
and Wang Der-wei
Wang Der-wei
David Wang Der-wei is a scholar of Chinese literature.-Academic career:Wang graduated from National Taiwan University in 1976 with a B.A. in foreign languages and literature, and went on to study comparative literature at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, receiving his M.A. in 1978 and his...
. Her works won her the "Best short story from a new author" prize from her publisher, as well as a later literary prize from the Central Daily News
Central Daily News
The Central Daily News was the official newspaper of the Kuomintang and is one of the world's oldest Chinese-language newspaper having been in circulation since 1928...
.