Born in
Suzhou to an eminent family of intellectuals, he attended private Suzhou Shude Junior Middle School and
Suzhou High School in 1929, under the name Ma Jizong. Since the outbreak of
Mukden Incident in September 1931, Tang Na was one of the active students to make street speeches to enhance Chinese citizen's awareness of foreign invasion. he was actively involved in leftist stage performances, and joined the peripheral organization "Suzhou Social Science Study Group" associated with
Communist Youth League of China. After the Communist underground network in Suzhou was dismantled in March 1932, he moved to Shanghai and worked as a bank intern. That summer, he was admitted to
St. John’s University, Shanghai, where he went by the name Ma Jiliang (or Ma Ki-Leung). At university, he used various pen names, notably Tang Na and Luo Ping, to write film reviews for newspapers like
Shen Bao and
Shi Bao. Later, he worked as a screenwriter for local film companies, and participated in the Left-Wing Film Workers League. He wrote the lyrics for the film scores "Self-Defense Song" and "Saiwai Cunnu," both composed by
Nie Er, for the leftist film
Escape, on which Tang also worked as vice director. In the spring of 1935, Tang wrote an enthusiastic review of the performance of
Lan Ping, then an actress known by her stage name Lan Ping, in
Henrik Ibsen’s play
A Doll’s House, calling her a “brilliant new star” and boosting her rising fame.. Tang then helped Lan join the
Diantong Film Company, where he worked. Their professional partnership soon turned into cohabitation. .On April 26, 1936, Tang and Lan married in a group ceremony in Hangzhou alongside other celebrity couples, including
Zhao Dan and Ye Luxi. The marriage generated significant public interest, with
Shen Junru officiating the wedding and
Zheng Junli presiding. Later in the same month, when the Shanghai edition of
Tai Kung Pao was founded, Tang became an editor for its weekly supplement of film and drama. However, Tang's marriage unraveled soon, leading him to attempt suicide twice. During
WWII, Tang went to the anti-Japanese frontlines and wrote war reports for Shanghai's
Tai Kung Pao. Following the fall of Shanghai in 1937, Tang relocated to Wuhan where he created the anti-Japanese war play
Long Live China. Soon after, he relocated to the war capital of Chongqing, where, in March 1938,
Zhao Dan introduced him to a young actress, Chen Lu. The two fell in love and quickly married. They returned to the Japanese-occupied Shanghai, where Chen broke into the city's film industry with his help. He also gave her a stage name, Hong Ye ("Red Leaf"), to contrast with Lan Ping’s name ("Blue Apple"). In 1939, under the pen name Jiang Qi, he wrote the plays
Chen Yuanyuan and
The Road to Life in the isolated island of Shanghai. On May 1, 1940, his son, Ma Junshi, was born. In December 1942, following the outbreak of the
Pacific War, Tang left Shanghai for Chongqing again, leaving Chen and their son behind. Chen later remarried a salt merchant. In Chongqing, he worked at
Ying Yunwei’s Chinese Art Theatre Society, earning just enough to survive. When the theatre disbanded, he fell into poverty and unemployment. In his despair, he attempted suicide, his third time following two previous attempts caused by his marriage with Jiang Qing. At that time, Jiang, then wife of
Mao Zedong in
Yan’an, learned of his dire situation and arranged for a monthly allowance of 10 yuan to be sent to him through intermediaries. Each time he received the money, Tang would set aside 1 yuan to gather with his equally impoverished friends for a modest meal. In Chongqing, Tang also had a brief relationship with the actress Kang Jian. In 1944, Tang established the China Amateur Theatre Society in Chongqing, serving as its president, with
Feng Yidai as vice president. The theatre dissolved shortly due to poor attendance, leaving Tang in financial difficulty again. It was only in the final days of the
Second Sino-Japanese War that Tang's fluency in English helped him secure a position at the British Embassy’s news department in China, which relieved him from his years of poverty. In 1945, when Mao Zedong, then husband of Jiang, was in Chongqing for the
Chongqing Negotiations, Tang was invited to meet Mao at a house party hosted by
Zhang Zhizhong, where Mao greeted him saying "Harmony above all." After China's victory in the
Anti-Japanese War, he became the editor-in-chief of Shanghai's
Shi Shi Xin Bao. In 1946, he became the editor-in-chief of Shanghai's
Wenhui Bao. In August 1947, U.S. Presidential envoy
Albert Wedemeyer held a press conference in Shanghai, and Tang was invited to attend. There, he fell for a reporter, Chen Runqiong, who was the third daughter of Chen Lu (no relation to Tang's second wife), the former Chinese ambassador to France. In September 1948, Tang went to Hong Kong and became the editor-in-chief of
Wen Wei Po. In 1949, Chen moved to Hong Kong for work, too. In February 1949, Chen left for the United States to work at the United Nations; Tang followed her there and worked for the overseas Chinese-language newspapers. Meanwhile, he wrote the script
Before Returning Home. In 1951, when Chen moved to Paris, Tang followed yet again. That same year, Chen finally accepted Tang's persistent courtship, and they were married in Paris. Since then, he settled in Paris, changed his name to Ma Shaozhang, and ran a restaurant there. They had a daughter together, named Ma Yihua, meaning "missing China." After the downfall of the
Gang of Four, which was led by his ex-wife Jiang Qing, Tang returned to China twice to visit his relatives. Before his death, he left a message for his daughter: "Don't be a fake foreigner; never forget your Chinese roots." ==References==