Cheng Youshu (; 1924 – 5 May 2021) was a Chinese diplomat and poet. Cheng was fluent in English and Danish.

Biography

Cheng was born in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

in 1924, with her

ancestral hometown An ancestral home is the place of origin of one's extended family, particularly the home owned and preserved by the same family for several generations. The term can refer to an individual house or estate, or to a broader geographic area such as a ...

in Xiangxiang, Hunan. Her father

Cheng Shewo Cheng Shewo (; 28 August 18981 January 1991) was a journalist, publisher, and educator of the Republic of China. He was the founder of Shih Hsin University in Taiwan. Biography Cheng was born in Nanjing in 1898, with his ancestral home in Xiangx ...

was a

newspaperman A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

. She is the second of five children. Her sister, Cheng Zhifan () (born in 1928), is French Chinese. Her brother

Cheng Siwei Cheng Siwei (June 1935 – 12 July 2015) was a Chinese economist, chemical engineer and politician. He was the Chairman of China Soft Science Research Association; President of the Chinese Society for Management Modernization; Director of th ...

was a Chinese politician. Cheng Youshu began writing poems at the age of 13. After

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

, Cheng was accepted into

Saint John's University, Shanghai St. John's University (SJU) was a Christian university in Shanghai. It was founded in 1879 by American missionaries. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Communist government closed the university in 1952. Most of its facul ...

, where she joined the Wenhui Fellowship—a Christian Fellowship. In 1945, Cheng and her schoolmate founded the Yehuo Poetry Club (). In May 1945, Cheng joined the

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

, and served in the

New Fourth Army The New Fourth Army (N4A) () was a military unit nominally under the banner of the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Republic of China, established in 1937 as part of the Second United Front against Japan. However, in practice, the New ...

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

. In 1948, Cheng went to

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

to work as a

reporter A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

. While in Hong Kong, Cheng met her future husband, Chen Luzhi. Cheng married Chen () in Hong Kong. They have four children. In October 1949, Cheng moved in

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

, her father went to

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

with

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...

. After the founding of the

Communist State A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state in which the totality of the power belongs to a party adhering to some form of Marxism–Leninism, a branch of the communist ideology. Marxism–Leninism was ...

, Cheng worked in the

Chinese Foreign Ministry The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China is the first-ranked executive department of the State Council of China, responsible for the country's foreign relations. It is led by the minister of foreign affairs, currently ...

. From 1955 to 1961, Cheng worked in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

as a diplomat. In 1984, Cheng went to

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

with her husband when he served as China's Ambassador to Denmark. Cheng died in Beijing on 5 May 2021.

Works

Poems

* ''The Surviving Rice'' ()

Translation

* ''Nb—Some Memories of Niels Henrik David Bohr'' ()

Awards

* ''The Surviving Rice'' – 3rd

Lu Xun Literary Prize The Lu Xun Literary Prize (or Lu Xun Literature Prize) 鲁迅文学奖 is a literary prize awarded by China Writers Association. It is one of China's top four literary prizes and is named after Lu Xun and has been awarded every three years sinc ...

(2005)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheng, Youshu 1924 births 2021 deaths Chinese diplomats Chinese expatriates in British Hong Kong Chinese expatriates in Denmark Chinese expatriates in India St. John's University, Shanghai alumni Writers from Beijing