Xiao Hong

Xiao Hong was born in 1911 in a wealthy landlord family in Hulan County, in what is now Heilongjiang Province. Her mother died when she was nine years old and she attended a girls school in Harbin in 1927, where she encountered the progressive ideas of the May Fourth movement as well as Chinese and foreign literature. Her childhood was not a happy one, as she suffered from her father's abuse and an arranged marriage. She fled her home in 1930 and started to lead a vagrant life. In 1932 she met the writer Xiao Jun, who became her lover and companion. She wrote her first novel, The Field of Life and Death, in 1933, which was based on her own experiences in the countryside and the suffering of the peasants. The novel was praised for its realism and humanism, and also criticized for its pessimism and vulgarity. She also wrote other novels, such as Tales of Hulan River, Ma Bole, and Market Street, as well as essays, short stories, and poems. She was influenced by both western and traditional Chinese literature and culture, and had a keen eye for detail and humor. She was a supporter of democracy and feminism, and opposed fascism and feudalism. She moved to Shanghai in 1936 and became involved in the literary circles there. She also traveled to Japan, Korea, and Hong Kong, where she witnessed the Japanese invasion and occupation of China. She married the writer Duanmu Hongliang in 1938, but their relationship was troubled by his infidelity and gambling. She died of pneumonia in Hong Kong in 1942, at the age of 30. She was regarded as one of the most important and influential writers of modern China.