Zhang Yumao (; June 1935 – 3 February 2019) was a Chinese literary scholar and politician. He was a professor of

Liaoning University Liaoning University () is a provincial public university founded in 1948 at Shenyang, Liaoning, China. It is among the universities listed in the nation's Double First Class University Plan and former Project 211 affirmed by the Ministry of Ed ...

known for his research on the writer

Xiao Jun Xiao Jun (, 3 July 1907 – 22 June 1988), born Liu Honglin (), was a Chinese author and intellectual from Linghai, Liaoning, China. Of Manchu ethnicity, Xiao's most famous work in China is his 1934 novel ''Village in August'' () which gain ...

. He also served as vice mayor of

Shenyang Shenyang (, ; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly known as Fengtian () or by its Manchu language, Manchu name Mukden, is a major China, Chinese sub-provincial city and the List of capitals in China#Province capitals, provincial capital of Lia ...

and vice chairman of the Liaoning

Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC, zh, 中国人民政治协商会议), also known as the People's PCC (, ) or simply the PCC (), is a political advisory body in the People's Republic of China and a central part of ...

(CPPCC).

Biography

Zhang was born in June 1935 in

Gaizhou Gaizhou (), formerly Gaixian, ''Gaiping'', and Kaiping, is a county-level city in Liaoning province, China. It is under the administration of Yingkou City, which lies to the north-northwest, and is located at the northwest end of the Liaodong P ...

Liaoning Liaoning () is a coastal province in Northeast China that is the smallest, southernmost, and most populous province in the region. With its capital at Shenyang, it is located on the northern shore of the Yellow Sea, and is the northernmost ...

province. Zhang graduated from the Department of Chinese Language and Literature of

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 ...

in 1960, and worked at the Institute of Latin American Studies of the

Chinese Academy of Social Sciences The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) is a Chinese research institute and think tank. The institution is the premier comprehensive national academic research organization in the People's Republic of China for the study in the fields of ...

. During 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 ...

, he was sent to perform manual labour at a

May Seventh Cadre School The May Seventh Cadre Schools () were Chinese labor camps established during the Cultural Revolution that combined hard agricultural work with the study of Mao Zedong's writings in order to "re-educate" or ''laogai'' (reform through labor) cadres an ...

Shenqiu County Shenqiu County () is a county in the east of Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means " ...

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

, from 1969 to 1973. In 1973, he became a faculty member of the Department of Chinese Language of

, serving as lecturer, associate professor, professor, and eventually department chair. He was known as the leading scholar of the Liaoning writer

, whom he had met in the 1950s and after the

. He wrote two biographies of Xiao Jun. Zhang joined the

China Democratic League The China Democratic League (CDL) is one of the eight legally recognized minor political parties in the People's Republic of China under the Chinese Communist Party's United Front. The CDL was originally founded in 1941 as an umbrella coalition ...

in March 1984. He entered politics in 1989, when he was appointed vice mayor of

, the capital of Liaoning. He later served as vice chairman of the Liaoning

(CPPCC), chairman of the China Democratic League Liaoning Provincial Committee, and vice chairman of the China Democratic League Central Committee. Zhang retired in July 2009. He died on 3 February 2019 in Shenyang, at the age of 83.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhang, Yumao 1935 births 2019 deaths Chinese literature academics Writers from Liaoning People from Gaizhou Peking University alumni Academic staff of Liaoning University Deputy mayors Political office-holders in Liaoning Politicians from Shenyang