{{Short description|Taiwanese writer (1925–2020)}} '''Chung Chao-cheng''' ({{zh|c=鍾肇政}}; Hakka Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: ''Chûng Sau-chṳn''; Taiwanese {{zh|poj=Cheng Tiāu-chèng}}; 20 January 1925 – 16 May 2020) was a Taiwanese novelist of Hakka descent born in the Hsinchu Prefecture during the Japanese rule period (now part of Lungtan District, Taoyuan City). Revered as the "Mother of Taiwanese Literature" in Taiwan, he is also frequently mentioned alongside Taiwanese writer Yeh Shih-tao, collectively known as "North Chung, South Yeh".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chung |first=Chao-cheng's Concern for Taiwan |title=鍾肇政的臺灣關懷 |publisher=Yuan-Liou Publishing |year=2020 |isbn=978-986-5659-39-4 |location=Taipei |trans-title=Chung Chao-cheng's Concern for Taiwan}}</ref>
== Early life == thumb|The Japanese-style dormitory at Longtan Elementary School, where Chung Chao-cheng worked as a primary school teacher, has been renamed as the "Chong Chao-cheng Literature Life Park Resident Workstation". Chung was born on 20 January 1925,<ref name="ltn"/> in Longtan District, Taoyuan.<ref name="teldap"/><ref name="hac">{{cite news |title=Chung Chao-cheng: the author who launched Taiwan's roman-fleuve |agency=Hakka Affairs Council |url=https://english.hakka.gov.tw/Content/Content?NodeID=670&PageID=39914&LanguageType=ENG |accessdate=16 May 2020}}</ref> Under Japanese rule, the subdivision was classified as a village by the name of Ryūtan, itself a part of Daikei, in Shinchiku Prefecture. His father was a schoolteacher and principal.<ref name="teldap">{{cite news |title=The River Runs Wide: The Literary Carreer [sic] of Chung Chao-cheng |url=http://culture.teldap.tw/culture/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&catid=156:lives-and-cultures&id=533:the-river-runs-wide-the-literary-carreer-of-chung-chao-cheng |accessdate=16 May 2020 |publisher=Taiwan e-Learning and Digital Archives Program}}</ref> Chung was sixth of ten siblings, and the only son.<ref name="hac"/> He enrolled successively at the {{ill|New Taipei Tamkang High School|lt=Tamkang Middle School|zh|新北市私立淡江高級中學}} and then the Changhua Normal School, and later studied at National Taiwan University, but did not complete a degree in the Department of Chinese Language and Literature, due to a bout of malaria.<ref name="teldap"/> He learned to speak Taiwanese Hokkien at an early age, and was educated in the Japanese language.<ref name="taiintime">{{cite news |author1=Han Cheung |title=Taiwan in Time: A great loss for Taiwanese literature |url=https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2020/05/24/2003736936 |accessdate=24 May 2020 |work=Taipei Times |date=24 May 2020}}</ref> Chung taught at Longtan Elementary School until 1979,<ref name="ltn"/><ref name="moc">{{cite news |title=Writer {{!}} Chung Chao-cheng |url=https://www.moc.gov.tw/en/information_226_77042.html |accessdate=16 May 2020 |agency=Ministry of Culture |date=7 January 2016}}</ref> switching from Hakka to teaching in Mandarin at the request of the Kuomintang-led government.<ref name="taiintime"/> His knowledge of languages made Chung a member of the translingual generation.<ref name="taiintime"/>
== Career == His first work was published in 1951, within the pages of the magazine ''Rambler''.<ref name="prep">{{cite news |title=Chung Chao-cheng |url=https://paper-republic.org/pers/chung-chao-cheng/ |accessdate=16 May 2020 |publisher=Paper Republic}}</ref> His first novel appeared as a serial within ''United Daily News'',<ref name="prep" /> and over the course of his career, Chung published over thirty novels.<ref name="teldap" /> In 1961, he published the ''Muddy Torrent Trilogy'' (濁流三部曲), a landmark in Taiwanese epic novel writing, establishing him as the first author of Taiwanese epic novels.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lin |first=Mei-hua |title=鍾肇政大河小說中的殖民地經驗 |publisher=National Cheng Kung University |year=2003 |pages=9 |trans-title=Colonial Experience in Chung Chao-cheng's Epic Novels}}</ref> He paid meticulous attention to the depiction of desire, a recurrent theme in his works. In 2002, at the age of seventy, he began writing ''The Passionate Goethe'' (歌德激情書)'','' exploring the erotic world within the mind of the German literary giant Goethe.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dai |first=Hua-Hsuan |year=2017 |title=如何測量情色的深度——李喬與鍾肇政、葉石濤的情色論對話 |trans-title=Measuring the Depth of Eroticism: A Dialogue on Eroticism between Li Chiao and Chung Chao-cheng, Yeh Shih-tao |journal=Journal of Taiwan Literary Studies |issue=24 |pages=41–67}}</ref>
From 1957 to 1958, he collaborated with a group of enthusiastic Taiwanese writers to publish ''Literary Friends Communications'' (文友通訊). During this time, many writers from the Japanese rule period faced challenges with language transition due to the change in political power, starting to learn to write in Chinese again. ''Literary Friends Communications'' provided a platform for these writers to create and mutually encourage each other in their literary pursuits.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wang |first=Jing-chan |year=2004 |title=穿越語言的斷層：鍾理和的精神食糧－－《文友通訊》 |trans-title=Crossing the Language Gap: Chung Li-ho's Spiritual Sustenance – The Literary Friends Newsletter |journal=Newsletter of the National Museum of Taiwan Literature |issue=6 |pages=56}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Chung |first=Chao-cheng |title=鍾肇政回憶錄（一）徬徨與掙扎 |publisher=Vanguard |year=1998 |isbn=957-801-156-3 |location=Taipei |trans-title=Memoirs of Chung Chao-cheng (Part One): Wandering and Struggling}}</ref>
In addition to his creative work, Chung actively highlighted the achievements of Taiwanese predecessors. Starting from the late 1970s, he participated in various activities promoting and establishing memorial halls for many Taiwanese writers, showing concern for the literary environment and cultural development, including Chung Li-He Museum.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Shih |first=Yi-lin |year=2003 |title=臺灣文壇的傳燈者 |trans-title=The Torchbearer of Taiwan's Literary Scene |journal=Newsletter of the Taiwan Literature Museum |issue=1st |pages=7}}</ref> After martial law was lifted, he actively engaged in social movements, advocating for the rights of the Hakka community in Taiwan, including the "Restore Our Mother Tongue Movement", and the founding of the Taiwan Hakka Association for Public Affairs and the Formosa Hakka Radio.
His literary output also includes many essays, over 150 short stories, and more than forty works translated from Japanese.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Tu |first1=Kuo-ch'ing |title=Foreword to the Special Issue on Chung Chao-cheng |url=https://taiwancenter.eastasian.ucsb.edu/sites/secure.lsit.ucsb.edu.east.d7_taiwancenter/files/sitefiles/Journal%20%2333%20Forward%20in%20English.pdf |accessdate=16 May 2020 |work=Taiwan Literature: English Translation Series |issue=33 |publisher=Institute of Taiwan History, Academia Sinica |date=2014}} [http://www.ith.sinica.edu.tw/publish-data_classification_look.php?l=c&fY=42&fC=102&fS=414&ckY=1&ckAD=2&id=12181&sn=24&page=2&ps=20 Record of publication held at the Institute of Taiwan History]</ref> He promoted Taiwan nativist literature. Known as the doyen of Taiwanese literature,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Chin |first1=Jonathan |title=Novelist, son 'dumbstruck' by restoration of old home |url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2018/08/16/2003698623 |accessdate=16 August 2018 |date=16 August 2018}}</ref> Chung's novel ''The Dull Ice Flower'' was adapted into a Golden Horse-winning film released in 1989. He was a recipient of both the {{ill|Wu San-lien Literary Award|zh|吳三連文藝獎}} and the {{ill|National Literary Award|zh|國家文藝獎}}, among others.<ref name="ltn" /><ref name="moc" /> Chung fell the week before his death, and subsequently lapsed in and out of consciousness.<ref name="ltn">{{cite news |last1=許 |first1=倬勛 |title=獨家》「客家文學之母」鍾肇政辭世 享壽96歲 |url=https://news.ltn.com.tw/news/life/breakingnews/3167959 |accessdate=16 May 2020 |work=Liberty Times |date=16 May 2020 |language=zh}}</ref> He died on 16 May 2020 at home in Taoyuan.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Chiu |first1=Chun-chin |last2=Su |first2=Lung-chi |last3=Chen |first3=Ping-hung |last4=Wu |first4=Hsin-yun |last5=Yeh |first5=Joseph |title=Doyen of Taiwan's nativist literature movement passes away at 96 |url=https://focustaiwan.tw/culture/202005170003 |accessdate=17 May 2020 |agency=Central News Agency |date=17 May 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Novelist who told stories of post-war life in Taiwan passes away aged 95 |url=https://taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2020/05/18/2003736615 |accessdate=18 May 2020 |work=Taipei Times |date=18 May 2020}}</ref>
Chung received the Order of Brilliant Star with Grand Cordon in 2000 from the Lee Teng-hui presidential administration. Lee's successor Chen Shui-bian awarded Chung the Order of Propitious Clouds with Grand Cordon in 2004. Posthumously, the Order of Brilliant Star with Special Grand Cordon was conferred upon Chung, alongside a presidential citation from Tsai Ing-wen.<ref>{{cite news |title=Presidential order, posthumous citation conferred to literary great |url=https://www.moc.gov.tw/en/information_196_114236.html |accessdate=23 June 2020 |agency=Ministry of Culture |date=14 June 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Tsai awards posthumous state honors to iconic Hakka novelist |url=https://taiwantoday.tw/news.php?unit=2,6,10,15,18&post=179340 |accessdate=23 June 2020 |work=Taiwan Today |date=15 June 2020}}</ref>
==See also== * Muddy Water Trilogy * List of Taiwanese authors
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [https://www.tieff.org/en/films/the-sound-of-taiwan-chung-chao-cheng/ The Sound of Taiwan – Chung Chao-cheng, presented at the Taiwan International Ethnographic Film Festival] {{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chung, Chao-cheng}} Category:1925 births Category:2020 deaths Category:Taiwanese male novelists Category:Taiwanese people of Hakka descent Category:Hakka writers Category:Writers from Taoyuan City Category:20th-century Taiwanese novelists Category:Taiwanese schoolteachers Category:People from Longtan District Category:Taiwanese male short story writers Category:20th-century Taiwanese short story writers Category:Taiwanese translators Category:Japanese–Chinese translators Category:20th-century essayists Category:Taiwanese essayists Category:National Taiwan University alumni Category:Male essayists Category:Recipients of the Order of Propitious Clouds Category:Recipients of the Order of Brilliant Star