Ru Zhijuan (

Wade–Giles Wade–Giles ( ) is a romanization system for Mandarin Chinese. It developed from the system produced by Thomas Francis Wade during the mid-19th century, and was given completed form with Herbert Giles's '' A Chinese–English Dictionary'' ...

: Ju Chih-chüan, 30 October 1925 – 7 October 1998) was a Chinese writer best known for her short stories. Ru was one of the most important writers of her generation. Her second daughter

Wang Anyi Wang Anyi (born 6 March 1954) is a Chinese writer, vice-chair of the China Writers Association since 2006, and professor in Chinese Literature at Fudan University since 2004. Wang widely writes novels, novellas, short stories and essays with div ...

is also a famous writer.

Biography

Ru Zhijuan, the youngest of 5 children, was born 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 ...

to migrants from

Hangzhou Hangzhou, , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ; formerly romanized as Hangchow is a sub-provincial city in East China and the capital of Zhejiang province. With a population of 13 million, the municipality comprises ten districts, two counti ...

. When she was 3, her mother died and her father left; she and a brother were raised by their grandmother. She did not begin primary school until age 10, and a year later moved to Hangzhou with her grandmother, who died shortly after. She was sent to an orphanage in Shanghai. After a year each at a women's vocational school, a Christian missionary boarding school for girls, and a county school, she graduated from secondary school with only four years of schooling. She taught school for a short time in 1943 before joining the propaganda division of 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 ...

. In 1944, she married Wang Xiaoping, who was born in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

but arrived in China to fight the Japanese 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 ...

. In 1947, she 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 ...

. In 1955, she became the editor of the ''Monthly for Literature and Art'', retiring in 1960 to write full-time. In 1960, Ru published ''All Quiet in the Maternity Clinic'', which was republished in a collection of the same name in 1962 and which received significant literary attention and analysis. Its setting in the maternity clinic of a

people's commune The people's commune ( zh, c=, p=rénmín gōngshè) was the highest of three administrative levels in rural areas of the People's Republic of China during the period from 1958 to 1983, until they were replaced by Townships of the People's Rep ...

was notable for being an uncommon site in other labor narratives of the period. The short story depicts the arrival of Sister He, a modern-trained midwife from the city, and Auntie Tan, and older midwife at the clinic. Largely narrated from Auntie Tan's perspective, ''All Quiet in the Maternity Clinic'''s narrative addresses the tensions and disagreements between the two nurses, with Auntie Tan's life experience in pre-liberation China resulting in her skepticism of Sister He's modern methods. The 1958 short story "Lilies" was criticized by some for its "bourgeois sentimentality" but became popular after it was praised by Minister of Culture and author

Mao Dun Shen Dehong (Shen Yanbing; 4 July 1896 – 27 March 1981), best known by the pen name of Mao Dun, was a Chinese novelist, essayist, journalist, playwright, literary and cultural critic. He was highly celebrated for his Literary realism, rea ...

. Many of her stories of this period were intended to show popular support for the revolution and the communist party. She also dealt with the changes in Chinese society from traditional values. She did not publish any work from 1962 to 1965, because it was felt at the time that her work dealt with the worries of everyday people rather than more important issues. She regained favour when the values from 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 ...

were being reconsidered. They are generally critical of earlier policies and promote the new social norms. She served as

Chinese Communist Party Committee Secretary A Party Committee Secretary () is the leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) organization in a province, city, village, or other administrative unit. In most cases, it is the ''de facto'' highest political office of its area of jurisdictio ...

for the Shanghai Writer's Association. She died in Shanghai at the age of 73. Her daughter

also became a prominent writer.

Works translated into English

Filmography

Major awards

*1980: 2nd National Short Story Prize, "A Story Out of Sequence" ("A Badly Edited Story")

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ru, Zhijuan 1925 births 1998 deaths Short story writers from Shanghai 20th-century Chinese women writers International Writing Program alumni Chinese women short story writers Chinese women essayists 20th-century Chinese short story writers 20th-century Chinese essayists