Ling Jiefang (; 3 November 1945 – 15 December 2018), better known by his

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

Eryue He (), was a Chinese

historical fiction Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other t ...

writer. He is best known for writing

biographical novel The biographical novel is a genre of novel which provides a fictional account of a contemporary or historical person's life. Like other forms of biographical fiction, details are often trimmed or reimagined to meet the artistic needs of the fictio ...

s of three

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

emperors ( Kangxi,

Yongzheng , regnal name = , posthumous name = Emperor Jingtian Changyun Jianzhong Biaozhen Wenwu Yingming Kuanren Xinyi Ruisheng Daxiao Zhicheng Xian()Manchu: Temgetulehe hūwangdi () , temple name = Shizong()Manchu: Šidzung () , house = Aisin Gioro ...

and

Qianlong The Qianlong Emperor (25 September 17117 February 1799), also known by his Temple name, temple name Emperor Gaozong of Qing, born Hongli, was the fifth List of emperors of the Qing dynasty, Emperor of the Qing dynasty and the fourth Qing empe ...

), all of which have been adapted into award-winning television series. He was the dean of College of Liberal Arts of

Zhengzhou University Zhengzhou University (), colloquially known in Chinese as Zhèngdà () and abbreviated as ZZU is a public university located in Zhengzhou, Henan, China. Zhengzhou University is the largest university in China in terms of number of students (a ...

. He was a delegate to the

12th National People's Congress The 12th National People's Congress was elected in national congressional conferences from October 2012 to February 2013 and was in session from 2013 to 2018. It succeeded the 11th National People's Congress. It held five plenary sessions in t ...

and the

18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China The 18th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party was held November 8-15, 2012 at the Great Hall of the People. It was preceded by the 17th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party. Due to term and age limits restrictions, seven of ...

. He was a member of the

China 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 Lite ...

Biography

Ling was born in Xiyang County,

Shanxi Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-leve ...

. His father Ling Erwen () was the director of CPC Xiyang Committee. His mother Ma Cuilan () was the chairwoman of CPC Xiyang Women's Federation. He moved to

Nanyang Nanyang is the romanization of two common Chinese place names. It may refer to: Written as 南洋 (Southern Ocean) * Nanyang (region), a Chinese term denoting the Southeast Asian lands surrounding the South China Sea ;China * Nanyang Fleet, Qing ...

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 a ...

, and settled there with his parents. He graduated from Nanyang No. 3 High School. He served in the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the China, People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five Military branch, service branches: the People's ...

for ten years from 1968 to 1978. In 1978 he became an official in the Propaganda Department of the CPC Nanyang Municipal Committee. His inspiration for the emperor biographies came from his study of ''

Dream of the Red Chamber ''Dream of the Red Chamber'' (''Honglou Meng'') or ''The Story of the Stone'' (''Shitou Ji'') is a novel composed by Cao Xueqin in the middle of the 18th century. One of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature, it is known fo ...

'', one of the

Four Great Classical Novels Classic Chinese Novels () are the best-known novels of pre-modern Chinese literature. These are among the world's longest and oldest novels. They represented a new complexity in structure and sophistication in language that helped to establish t ...

of Chinese literature. He is also a member of the standing committee of the Chinese Redology Association, with a group of people devoting time and effort on the study of the aforementioned novel. Ling began writing his first novel, ''The Great Kangxi Emperor'', in 1984 and later published ''Yongzheng Emperor'' and ''Qianlong Emperor'' as part of the same historical fiction series. The hugely popular books follow three generations of leaders during the

(1644-1911) and feature tales of corruption, invasions and rivalries between royal siblings. The three novels were adapted into popular TV series in the late 1990s and early 2000s starring bigname actors including

Chen Daoming Chen Daoming (born 26 April 1955) is a Chinese actor who has starred in various genres of film and television series. Career Chen graduated from the Central Academy of Drama. His first notable role was "Puyi" (the last emperor of China) in the ...

Tang Guoqiang Tang Guoqiang (born 4 May 1952) is a Chinese actor best known for portraying historical figures in several films and television series. Some of his more notable roles include: various Chinese emperors (e.g. Emperor Taizong of Tang, Yongle Emper ...

and

Siqin Gaowa Siqin Gaowa (, Mongolian Cyrillic ''Цэцэнгуа'', born 19 January 1950), born Duan Anlin, is a Chinese-born Swiss actress. She was born in Guangzhou to a Han Chinese father and a Mongol Chinese mother. Her father died when she was 4, she was ...

Selected works

*''Kangxi Emperor'' (1984–1988), adapted into the 2001 TV series ''

Kangxi Dynasty ''Kangxi Dynasty'' is a 2001 Chinese television series based on the novel ''Kangxi Da Di'' (康熙大帝; ''The Great Kangxi Emperor'') by Eryue He. The series is a prequel to the 1997 television series '' Yongzheng Dynasty'', and was followed by ' ...

'' *''Yongzheng Emperor'' (1990–1992), adapted into the 1997 TV series ''

Yongzheng Dynasty ''Yongzheng Dynasty'' is a 1999 Chinese historical television series starring Tang Guoqiang and Jiao Huang. The series, spanning 44 episodes, occupied the CCTV-1 prime time slot; after its premiere, there have been many re-runs of the show on telev ...

'' *''Qianlong Emperor'' (1994–1996), adapted into the 2002 TV series ''

Qianlong Dynasty ''Qianlong Dynasty'' is a Chinese television series based on the novel ''Qianlong Huangdi'' (乾隆皇帝; ''The Qianlong Emperor'') by Eryue He. The series was preceded by ''Yongzheng Dynasty'' in 1997 and ''Kangxi Dynasty'' in 2001, both of whic ...

'' *''Hu Xueyan'' (胡雪岩, wrote with Xue Jiazhu) *''Meditation in front of Buddha Statue'' (佛像前的沉吟, essay) *''Ren Jian Shi'' (人间世, essay) *''Suixing Suiyuan'' (随性随缘, essay) *''Miyun Buyu'' (密云不雨, autobiography)

References

External links

Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eryue He 1945 births 2018 deaths Writers from Shanxi People's Liberation Army personnel People from Jinzhong Chinese male novelists