Chen Zhongshi (; 3 August 1942 – 29 April 2016) was a Chinese author. He started writing prose in 1965 and finished his magnum opus ''White Deer Plain'' in 1993 (for which he won the

Mao Dun Literature Prize Mao Dun Literature Prize () is a prize for novels, established in the will of prominent Chinese writer Mao Dun (for which he personally donated 250,000 RMB) and sponsored by the China Writers Association. Awarded every four years, it is one of ...

in 1997). In 1979, he became a member of the

Chinese Writers Association China Writers Association or Chinese Writers Association (CWA, ) is a subordinate people's organization of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles (CFLAC). Founded in July 1949, the organization was initially named the China National Lit ...

(which he at one point served as the association's vice chairman).

Biography

Chen was born in

Xi'an Xi'an ( , ; ; Chinese: ), frequently spelled as Xian and also known by other names, is the capital of Shaanxi Province. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong Plain, the city is the third most populous city in Western China, after Chongqi ...

Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see § Name) is a landlocked province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichuan (SW), Gansu (W), N ...

on 3 August 1942. After graduating from No. 34 High School of Xi'an in 1962, he got a teaching job in primary school and, after two years, became a senior high school teacher. In 1966, Chen joined the

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Ci ...

. He was interested in literature and soon began devoting himself to a writing career. Chen became the vice director of Culture Bureau of Baqiao District of Xi'an in 1980. He served as a member of the Writers Association of Shaanxi, becoming vice president in 1985 and chairman in 1993. Between 2001 and 2006, he was the vice president of the Chinese Writers Association. Chen died on 29 April 2016 at the age of 73 in Xi'an.

Works

Short stories

*Trust () *Country () *Early Summer () *The courtyard of the Kangs ()

Novels

*''White Deer Plain''() **''White Deer Plain'', which has a large following in China, as of 2016, had not been translated into English.

Reportage

References

1942 births 2016 deaths Chinese male short story writers Writers from Xi'an People's Republic of China essayists Mao Dun Literature Prize laureates Chinese male novelists People's Republic of China novelists People's Republic of China short story writers Short story writers from Shaanxi {{China-writer-stub