Ling Shuhua

Ling Shuhua (Chinese: 凌叔华; 1900–1990), also known as Su-hua Ling Chen after her marriage, was a Chinese modernist writer and painter whose short stories became popular during the 1920s and 30s. Her work continues to be widely anthologized today.

Biography

Ling Shuhua was born Ling Ruitang in Beijing. Shuhua was the daughter of the fourth wife of a high ranking Qing official from the southern province of Canton, who later served as the mayor of Beijing. Ling never showed her fiction to her father for fear that he would disprove of her use of the vernacular. In 1922 she enrolled, along with fellow female writer Bing Xin, in Yanjing University to pursue a degree in foreign literature. Soon after graduating, she married Chen Yuan, the founder of the important May Fourth Movement journal Contemporary Review. In 1927, the couple moved to Hunan so that Chen could teach at Wuhan University.

While at Wuhan University, Ling met Julian Bell in 1935 when he was temporarily an English teacher in China. During his short stay there until 1937, they had a love affair while Ling was still married. In 1999, Hong Ying published K: The Art of Love, a book based on their relationship that was later banned.