Xiao Hong

Xiao Hong was born into a wealthy landlord family on June 1, 1911, the day of the Dragon Boat Festival in Hulan County (now Heilongjiang Province.) Xiao Hong's childhood was not a happy one. Her mother died when she was nine years old and she attended a girls school in Harbin in 1927, where she encountered the progressive ideas of the May Fourth movement as well as Chinese and foreign literature. Her childhood was deeply influenced by two people: her father, apparently a difficult man who was cold and ruthless, and her grandfather, who was the only one in the family who understood her. In her "Yong yuan de chong jing he zhui qiu" (Published in 1979) she writes, "Father often lost his humanity for the sake of greed. He treated his servants, his children, and my grandfather with the same miserliness and alienation, even ruthlessness." After her father beat Xiao Hong, she would hide in her grandfather's room. Grandfather would pat her down and say, "Grow up! It's good to grow up." Xiao Hong got warmth and love from her grandfather. ==Personal life==

Through Xiao Hong's biography whose childhood set the pattern for her future relationships with her friends and lovers. She believes she is either cherished and protected, or abandoned and tortured. This situation had a strong impact with her father. In 1932 Wang Enjia abandoned her and left her in a hotel while Xiao Hong was still pregnant. Unable to support the child, Xiao Hong put the child up for adoption. On the brink of collapse due to Wang Enjia's abandonment and desperate, Xiao Hong chose to write to the local newspaper for help. The newspaper editor was so shocked by Xiao Hong's experience that he sent Xiao Jun (real name: Liu Honglin) to confirm the event's authenticity. This was the first time that Xiao Hong met Xiao Jun. After seeing Xiao Hong, Xiao Jun was attracted by Xiao Hong's talent and he decided to save Xiao Hong. This gave Xiao Hong a new hope. In August 1932 Xiao Hong and Xiao Jun decided to live together. In 1938 Xiao Hong met Duanmu Hongliang and fell in love with him, ending her 6 years of relationship with Xiao Jun. Xiao Hong and Duanmu Hongliang got married in May 1938 in Wuhan. ==Literary compositions==

• Qier (棄兒, Abandoned Child) (1933). Xiao Hong's first published story. Used Qiao Yin as the pen name. Lu Xun described its "keen observations and extraordinary writing style." This was the first time that Xiao Hong used the pen name by which she is presently known and this work marked the beginning of her popularity. ==Xiao Hong and Lu Xun==

In 1927 Xiao Hong became a reader of the New Literature, Lu Xun's works have become Xiao Hong's favourite works. Before Xiao Hong and Xiao Jun went to Shanghai, they sent a manuscript of their work to Lu Xun. Before they arrived in Shanghai, Lu Xun read the manuscript. He accepted their request to join the young leftist authors. Lu Xun published both Xiao Hong and Xiao Jun's novels in his Slave Series (Nuli congshu). ==Death==

She died during the chaos of wartime Hong Kong in the temporary hospital of St. Stephen's Girls' College on January 22, 1942. She was buried at dusk on January 25, 1942 in Hong Kong's Repulse Bay. Her grave was moved to Guangzhou in August 1957. ==Selected works in English translation==

• The Field of Life and Death & Tales of Hulan River, Indiana University Press, 1979. • Anthology of Modern Chinese Stories and Novels, with Xiao Hong's short stories "Hands" and "Family Outsider", 1980 • • • Vague Expectations: Xiao Hong Miscellany, Hong Kong: Research Centre for Translation, 2020. ==In popular culture==

A biopic of Xiao Hong's life directed by Huo Jianqi, titled Falling Flowers, was released in 2012 in China. This was followed in 2014 by a further biopic, The Golden Era, directed by Hong Kong director Ann Hui. ==References==