Adet Lin (; May 6, 1923 – 1971) was a

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

-American novelist and translator. She also published under the name Tan Yun. She was also known as Lin Rusi.

Biography

The oldest daughter of

Lin Yutang Lin Yutang (10 October 1895 – 26 March 1976) was a Chinese inventor, linguist, novelist, philosopher, and translator. One scholar commented that Lin's "particular blend of sophistication and casualness found a wide audience, and he became a ma ...

, she was born in

Amoy Xiamen,), also known as Amoy ( ; from the Zhangzhou Hokkien pronunciation, zh, c=, s=, t=, p=, poj=Ē͘-mûi, historically romanized as Amoy, is a sub-provincial city in southeastern Fujian, People's Republic of China, beside the Taiwan Stra ...

and came to the United States at the age of thirteen. With her sisters Tai-yi and Mei Mei, she published ''Our Family'', an autobiographical work, in 1939. In 1940, with Tai-yi, she published ''Girl Rebel'', a translation of the autobiography of Xie Bingying. The sisters published a second book, ''Dawn over Chungking'', in 1941. After studying at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, she went on to work for the American Bureau for Medical Aid to China from 1943 to 1946. Afterwards, she returned to the United States and worked for the

United States Information Agency The United States Information Agency (USIA) was a United States government agency devoted to propaganda which operated from 1953 to 1999. Previously existing United States Information Service (USIS) posts operating out of U.S. embassies wor ...

and the

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is an international broadcasting network funded by the federal government of the United States that by law has editorial independence from the government. It is the largest and oldest of the American internation ...

. She published her first novel ''Flame from the Rock'' in 1943; the book is set in China during the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part ...

. On May 1, 1946, she married Richard Biow, son of advertising executive Milton H. Biow. Lin killed herself in

Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...

in 1971 by hanging herself.

Selected works

Her works include: * ''Our Family'' (1939), with Lin Tai-yi (Anor Lin) * ''Dawn over Chungking'' (1941), with Lin Tai-yi (Anor Lin) and Lin Mei Mei * ''Flame from the Rock'' (1943), under pseudonym Tan Yun * ''The Milky Way and Other Chinese Folk Tales'' (1961) * ''Flower Shadows'', translation of

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

poetry (1970)

References

1923 births 1971 suicides 1971 deaths 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American translators 20th-century American women writers Chinese women novelists Columbia University alumni People from Xiamen 20th-century Chinese novelists 20th-century Chinese translators Writers from Fujian Biow family Chinese emigrants to the United States Suicides by hanging in Taiwan {{China-writer-stub