Mei Zhi (22 June 1914 – 8 October 2004) was a Chinese children's author and essayist.

Biography

Mei Zhi was born in

Nanchang Nanchang is the capital of Jiangxi, China. Located in the north-central part of the province and in the hinterland of Poyang Lake Plain, it is bounded on the west by the Jiuling Mountains, and on the east by Poyang Lake. Because of its strate ...

Jiangxi ; Gan: ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = , translit_lang1_type3 = , translit_lang1_info3 = , image_map = Jiangxi in China (+all claims hatched).svg , mapsize = 275px , map_caption = Location ...

, the eldest daughter of three children. Mei joined the League of Left-Wing Writers in

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 1932. She met another member of this group,

Hu Feng Hu Feng (, November 2, 1902 – June 8, 1985) was a Chinese Marxist writer, poet and literary theorist. He was a prominent member of the League of Left-Wing Writers. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Hu Feng became a member ...

, in 1933 when he returned after being deported from

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and the two married at the end of the year. The two lived in

, where their home became a meeting place for other members of the League of Left-Wing Writers. Mei published her first volume in 1934 titled ''Shoushang zhi ye''(). 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 ...

, Mei moved with her family first to

Wuhan Wuhan; is the capital of Hubei, China. With a population of over eleven million, it is the most populous city in Hubei and the List of cities in China by population, eighth-most-populous city in China. It is also one of the nine National cent ...

, then to

Chongqing ChongqingPostal Romanization, Previously romanized as Chungking ();. is a direct-administered municipality in Southwestern China. Chongqing is one of the four direct-administered municipalities under the State Council of the People's Republi ...

. Whilst they moved, Hu increased the number of publications of his literary magazine ''Qi Yue'' (), which Mei copy-edited. Mei also edited the magazine ''Xiwang'' (). In 1941, Mei fled with her family 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 ...

, which soon fell to the Japanese, after which they went to

Guilin Guilin (Standard Zhuang: ''Gveilinz''), postal map romanization, formerly romanization of Chinese, romanized as Kweilin, is a prefecture-level city in the northeast of China's Guangxi, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. It is situated on the we ...

. By 1946, the family reached

, where Mei stayed with their three children until 1949.

Arrest

In May 1955, both Mei and Hu were arrested for counter-revolutionary activities. Mei's alleged crime was that she had transcribed Hu's book ''Sanshi fangyan'' (). She was released in 1961 after the death of her mother, but was only permitted to visit Hu in prison in 1965. Hu was released in late 1965 and was sent to live in

Chengdu Chengdu; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ; Chinese postal romanization, previously Romanization of Chinese, romanized as Chengtu. is the capital city of the Chinese province of Sichuan. With a ...

in early 1966, accompanied by Mei, under surveillance by the Sichuan Municipal Public Security Department. In August, with the onset of the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...

, the two were taken to a prison camp that produced tea in

Lushan County, Sichuan Lushan County () is a county of Sichuan Province, China. It is under the administration of Ya'an city. Administrative divisions Lushan County comprises 1 subdistrict, 6 towns and 1 township: ;subdistrict: *Luyang Subdistrict (芦阳街道) ;to ...

. Later, Hu was imprisoned, and frequently fell ill, thus Mei was taken to the prison at Dazhou and made to nurse him.

Rehabilitation

In 1979, Mei was rehabilitated and allowed to return to

. In 1980, Mei was given official permission to take Hu to

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 order to help his increasingly serious

mental illness A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness, a mental health condition, or a psychiatric disability, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. A mental disorder is ...

. Hu died in 1985, after which Mei wrote several

memoirs A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based on the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobio ...

detailing his experiences in prison. Mei joined the China Writers Association in 1982.

Written works

Children's literature

* * *

Memoirs

* * * * *

Legacy

Mei was portrayed by Yuan Quan in the 2014 film The Golden Era.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mei, Zhi 1914 births 2004 deaths People from Nanchang 20th-century Chinese essayists 20th-century Chinese women writers 20th-century Chinese writers Writers from Jiangxi