Nien Cheng
Nien Cheng
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Full Name and Common Aliases
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Nien Cheng was a Chinese writer, journalist, and memoirist whose common aliases included Nien Chang.
Birth and Death Dates
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Born: 1915 in Xiamen, Fujian Province, China
Died: 1985 in Stanford, California, USA
Nationality and Profession(s)
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Nien Cheng was a Chinese citizen by birth and profession. She worked as a writer, journalist, and memoirist.
Early Life and Background
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Nien Cheng was born in Xiamen, Fujian Province, China in 1915. Her early life was marked by the tumultuous events of the late Qing dynasty and the establishment of the Republic of China. This volatile environment would shape her perspective on politics, society, and individual resilience.
Cheng's family background was notable for its cultural and intellectual richness. Her father, a physician, introduced her to classical Chinese literature and Western thought. These early influences laid the groundwork for her future writing career.
Major Accomplishments
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Nien Cheng's life was marked by significant accomplishments despite facing numerous challenges:
Surviving the Cultural Revolution: Cheng endured the brutal treatment of the Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution, a period that saw widespread violence and persecution. Her memoir, _Life and Death in Shanghai_, recounts her experiences under this traumatic regime.
Publishing influential works: Cheng wrote extensively about Chinese history and society, publishing several books that offered insightful perspectives on China's past and present.
Notable Works or Actions
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Some of Nien Cheng's notable works include:
_Life and Death in Shanghai_: A memoir detailing her experiences during the Cultural Revolution.
_Lifelong Learning_: An autobiography reflecting on her personal growth and intellectual development.
Cheng also worked as a journalist, covering significant events in China's history. Her writing career spanned multiple genres, including fiction, nonfiction, and memoirs.
Impact and Legacy
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Nien Cheng's impact on Chinese literature and society is multifaceted:
Providing firsthand accounts: Cheng's writings offer unique insights into the Cultural Revolution, providing a firsthand account of this pivotal period in modern Chinese history.
Promoting cross-cultural understanding: Through her writing, Cheng has helped bridge cultural divides between East and West, fostering greater understanding and empathy.
Why They Are Widely Quoted or Remembered
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Nien Cheng is widely quoted or remembered for:
Her unwavering commitment to intellectual honesty and journalistic integrity.
The courage she displayed in the face of overwhelming adversity during the Cultural Revolution.
Quotes by Nien Cheng
Nien Cheng's insights on:
Since good intentions and sympathy for others often led people into trouble, the Chinese people had invented a new proverb that said, ‘The more you do, the more trouble you have; the less you do, the less trouble you have. If you do nothing whatever, you will become a model citizen.
I must not only keep alive, but I must be as strong as granite, so that no matter how much I was knocked about, I could remain unbroken.
I love China! I love my country even though it is not always good ro right,′ my daughter proclaimed in a firm voice. Her words brought tears to my eyes. I also had a deep and abiding love for the land of my ancestors even though, because of my class status, I had become an outcast.
Ji-li’s deeply moving story should be on the shelf of every person’s library. Her courage in the face of adversity and her steadfast loyalty and love for her family are truly inspirational for young and old alike.
From the point of view of the Chinese Communist Party, the greatest casualties of the Cultural Revolution were the Party’s prestige and its ability to govern.
They learned from an early age that the classless society of Communism had a more rigid class system than the despised capitalist society, where a man could move from the lower to the upper class by his own effort.
While I listened to the words of homage to Mao, I remembered Mao’s awesome power, like a blanket over China threatening to smother whomever he chose.
For so many years, the official propaganda machinery had denounced humanitarianism as sentimental trash and advocated human relations based entirely on class allegiance. But my personal experience had shown me that most of the Chinese people remained kind, sensitive, and compassionate even though the cruel reality of the system under which they had to live compelled them to lie and pretend.
But it also had many large posters with messages of a more peaceful nature. These extolled the country’s economic achievement since the Cultural Revolution, which was supposed to have liberated the forces of production and increased productivity. Of course, the Cultural Revolution had done just the opposite. Official lies like this, habitually indulged in and frequently displayed by the authorities, served no purpose except to create the impression that truth was unimportant.