Yuan Ch'iung-ch'iung (born November 25, 1950) is a 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...

ese writer. Yuan wrote poetry

Poetry

Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...

, fiction

Fiction

Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...

, essays, screenplays and television scripts

Teleplay

A teleplay is a television play, a comedy or drama written or adapted for television. The term surfaced during the 1950s with wide usage to distinguish a television plays from stage plays for the theater and screenplays written for films...

 during the Boudoir literature period for women. Boudoir literature is a form of writing that focuses on issues of women.

Some of the issues that Yuan focused on are: women's role in family and the workplace, and their anxieties, romantic relationships and aspirations. Yuan was inspired by the writings of an influential Chinese writer named Eileen Chang

Eileen Chang

Eileen Chang was a Chinese writer. Her most famous works include Lust, Caution and Love in a Fallen City....

, who was seen as the leader of the liberation for female Taiwanese writers. Both Yuan and her predecessor Chang wrote love stories

Romance novel

The romance novel is a literary genre developed in Western culture, mainly in English-speaking countries. Novels in this genre place their primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and must have an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." Through the late...

 that battled stereotypes of women.

Writings

As Yuan exposed the role of women in their families, workplace, and other aspects of life, the women in her stories typically accomplished a financial feat. Either they achieved financial independence, or she showed the financial prosperity of the flourishing middle-class. Her writings attempt to demonstrate what women can do independent from men.

In contrast to Eileen Chang, who depicted the differences between social classes in 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...

 in a negative light, Yuan was raised in a middle-class family and did not show any animosity towards the economical differences in society, especially since the majority of the Taiwanese people have achieve middle-class status in post-war years. In fact, Yuan greatly enjoyed her middle-class life and often showed that appreciation through her literature.

Many of Yuan's stories end on a question and the plot is left unresolved. Her more recent work often deals with young people trying to resolve their inner conflict with an external experience.

Works

• A Lover's Ear
• Spring Water Boat 《春水船》
• A Sky of One's Own 《自己的天空》
• Fantasy Bug
• Flies
• Cat
• Adversity
• Even-Glow
• Beyond Words
• The Old House That Stood for 30 Years
• A Place of One's Own
• The Sky's Escape
• Tales of Taipei
• The Mulberry Sea
• Empty Seat

Sources

1. Sudden Fiction International, Shapard, Robert, Thomas, James. New York, NY: 1989, pp 336.

2. Literary Culture in Taiwan, Sung-sheng Yvonne Chang, West-Sussex, NY: 2004, pp 171–175.

3. Yuan Qiongqiong and the Rage of Eileen Zhang Among Taiwan's Feminine Writers: The Eileen Zhang Phenomenon, Sung-sheng Yvonne Chang