Chang Ch'ung-ho or Zhang Chonghe (; May 17, 1914 – June 17, 2015), also known by her married name Ch'ung-ho Chang Frankel, was a
Chinese-American
Chinese Americans are Americans of Han Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans along with their ancestors trace lineage from m ...
poet,
calligrapher
Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...
, educator and
Kunqu
Kunqu (), also known as Kunju (), K'un-ch'ü, Kun opera or Kunqu Opera, is one of the oldest extant forms of Chinese opera. Kunqu is one of the oldest traditional operas of the Han nationality, and is also a treasure of Chinese traditional cult ...
opera singer. She is hailed as "the last talented woman of the
Republic of China
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...
" ().
Life and career
Chang Ch'ung-ho (Zhang Chonghe) was born in
Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
in 1914, with her
ancestral home
An ancestral home is the place of origin of one's extended family, particularly the home owned and preserved by the same family for several generations. The term can refer to an individual house or estate, or to a broader geographic area such as a ...
in
Hefei
Hefei (; ) is the capital and largest city of Anhui Province, People's Republic of China. A prefecture-level city, it is the political, economic, and cultural center of Anhui. Its population was 9,369,881 as of the 2020 census and its built-up ( ...
,
Anhui
Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze River ...
.
Her great-grandfather, Zhang Shusheng (), was a high-ranking military officer in the
Huai Army
The Huai Army (), named for the Huai River, was a military force allied with the Qing dynasty raised to contain the Taiping Rebellion in 1862. It was also called the Anhui Army because it was based in Anhui province. It helped to restore the stabil ...
.
Her father,
Zhang Wuling
Zhang Wuling (; 1889–1938) was a Chinese educator. Zhang was noted for promoting Chinese women's education and Chinese educational equality, he founded Suzhou Leyi Girls' School and Pinglin Middle School in Suzhou, Jiangsu. He was the father o ...
(), was an educator.
Her mother, Lu Ying (), was a housewife.
She had six brothers and three sisters.
Her eldest sister, Chang Yuen-ho (; 1907–2003), was a
Kunqu
Kunqu (), also known as Kunju (), K'un-ch'ü, Kun opera or Kunqu Opera, is one of the oldest extant forms of Chinese opera. Kunqu is one of the oldest traditional operas of the Han nationality, and is also a treasure of Chinese traditional cult ...
expert.
Her second sister,
Zhang Yunhe
Zhang Yunhe (张允和, July 25, 1909 – August 14, 2002) was a Chinese writer and scholar of ''kunqu'' opera. She was the wife of linguist Zhou Youguang.
Life
Early life and marriage
Zhang Yunhe was born on July 25, 1909, in Hefei, Anhui, ...
(; 1909–2002), was also a Kunqu expert.
Her third sister, Chang Chao-ho (; 1910–2003), was a teacher and writer, and the wife of the celebrated novelist
Shen Congwen
Shen Congwen (28 December 1902 – 10 May 1988), formerly romanized as Shen Ts'ung-wen, was a Chinese writer who is considered one of the greatest modern Chinese writers, on par with Lu Xun. Regional culture and identity plays a much bigger rol ...
.
At the age of 21, she was accepted to
Peking University
Peking University (PKU; ) is a public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education.
Peking University was established as the Imperial University of Peking in 1898 when it received its royal charter ...
. After graduating from PKU, Chang Ch'ung-ho became an editor for the newspaper ''
Central Daily News''.
In 1947, Chang met
Hans Fränkel
Hans Hermann Fränkel (19 December 191626 August 2003), usually Anglicized to Hans Frankel, was a German-American sinologist noted for his studies of Chinese poetry and literature and his 25-year tenure as professor of Chinese at Yale University. ...
at Peking University, they married in November 1948, and settled down in the United States in January 1949.
They had a daughter, Emma Fränkel () and a son, Ian Frankel. Ch'ung-ho taught at
Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
,
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
and 20 other universities, teaching traditional
Chinese culture
Chinese culture () is one of the world's oldest cultures, originating thousands of years ago. The culture prevails across a large geographical region in East Asia and is extremely diverse and varying, with customs and traditions varying grea ...
.
After the
Cultural Revolution
The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal ...
, Chang visited
Suzhou
Suzhou (; ; Suzhounese: ''sou¹ tseu¹'' , Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Soochow, is a major city in southern Jiangsu province, East China. Suzhou is the largest city in Jiangsu, and a major economic center and focal point of trade ...
in 1979.
In 1986, Chang Ch'ung-ho and her sister Chang Yuen-ho attended a theatrical performance which was commemorated the 370 anniversary of the death of
Tang Xianzu
Tang Xianzu (; September 24, 1550 – July 29, 1616), courtesy name Yireng (), was a Chinese playwright of the Ming Dynasty.
Biography
Tang was a native of Linchuan, Jiangxi and his career as an official consisted principally of low-level ...
in
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
.
In the Autumn of 2004, Chang Ch'ung-ho held an exhibition of paintings in Beijing.
On June 17, 2015, Chang Ch'ung-ho died in
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...
, aged 101.
Selected works
* ''Taohuayu'' () or ''Peach Blossom Fish''
References
Further reading
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chang, Chung-ho
1914 births
2015 deaths
Artists from Shanghai
National University of Peking alumni
Poets from Shanghai
Educators from Shanghai
Republic of China (1912–1949) emigrants to the United States
Chinese women poets
Yale University faculty
Chinese centenarians
American centenarians
Chinese women painters
Republic of China calligraphers
20th-century poets
20th-century women writers
People from Hefei
Taiwanese people from Shanghai
Women calligraphers
20th-century Chinese calligraphers
Women centenarians
Kunqu actresses
20th-century Chinese actresses
20th-century Chinese women singers
Actresses from Shanghai
Singers from Shanghai