François Cheng (; born 30 August 1929) is a Chinese-born French

academician An academician is a full member of an artistic, literary, engineering, or scientific academy. In many countries, it is an honorific title used to denote a full member of an academy that has a strong influence on national scientific life. In syst ...

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...

, and

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 ...

. He is the author of essays, novels, collections of poetry and books on art written in the French language, and the translator of some of the great

French poets List of poets who have written in the French language: A * Louise-Victorine Ackermann (1813–1890) * Adam de la Halle (v.1250 – v.1285) * Pierre Albert-Birot (1876–1967) * Anne-Marie Albiach (1937–2012) * Pierre Alféri (1963) * Marc Al ...

into Chinese.

Biography

Born in

Nanchang Nanchang (, ; ) is the capital of Jiangxi Province, People's Republic of China. Located in the north-central part of the province and in the hinterland of Poyang Lake Plain, it is bounded on the west by the Jiuling Mountains, and on the east ...

Jiangxi Jiangxi (; ; formerly romanized as Kiangsi or Chianghsi) is a landlocked province in the east of the People's Republic of China. Its major cities include Nanchang and Jiujiang. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze river in the north int ...

in 1929, Cheng traveled to France in 1948 on a study grant at the age of nineteen. In his 2002 speech to the Académie française, Cheng said,

"I became a Frenchman in law, mind and heart more than thirty years ago ..especially from that moment when I resolutely went over to the French language, making it the weapon, or the soul, of my creative work. This language, how can I say everything that I owe to it? It is so intimately bound up with the way I live and my inner life that it has proved to be the emblem of my destiny."

Cheng's first works were academic studies about

Chinese poetry Chinese poetry is poetry written, spoken, or chanted in the Chinese language. While this last term comprises Classical Chinese, Standard Chinese, Mandarin Chinese, Yue Chinese, and other historical and vernacular forms of the language, its poetry ...

and

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, he worked with the psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan on studying and translating texts from the classical Chinese canon. These exchanges informed Lacan's late teaching on psychoanalytic interpretation. Later he began to write poems in French, before finally turning to the writing of novels. Cheng won the 1998 Prix Femina for his novel ''Le Dit de Tianyi'' ("''The Tale of Tianyi''") (Albin Michel, Paris, 1998). In 2002 he was elected to the Académie française, the first person of

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

origin to be so honored. Since 2008, he has been a member of the

Fondation Chirac The Fondation Chirac was launched by former French President Jacques Chirac, after having served two terms in office between 1995 and 2007. Since 2008, this foundation strives for peace through five advocacy programmes: * conflict prevention * ...

's honour committee.

Marriage and family

Cheng married a painter who was also a Chinese national. They became French citizens and had a family. Their daughter Anne Cheng, born in Paris in 1955, also became an academic and sinologist.La pensée chinoise par-delà les fantasmes
" '' Sciences humaines'' ( FR). 4 March 2013. Retrieved on 11 December 2013.

Bibliography

*''Analyse formelle de l'œuvre poétique d'un auteur des Tang : Zhang Ruoxu'' (1970) *''Le Pousse-pousse'', by

Lao She Shu Qingchun (3 February 189924 August 1966), known by his pen name Lao She, was a Chinese novelist and dramatist. He was one of the most significant figures of 20th-century Chinese literature, and is best known for his novel '' Rickshaw Boy'' ...

, (translation, 1973) *''L'Écriture poétique chinoise'' (1977) *''Vide et plein: le langage pictural chinois'' (1979) *''L'espace du rêve: mille ans de peinture chinoise'' (1980) *''Sept poètes français'' (1983) *''

Henri Michaux Henri Michaux (; 24 May 1899 – 19 October 1984) was a Belgian-born French poet, writer and painter. Michaux is renowned for his strange, highly original poetry and prose, and also for his art: the Paris Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenheim ...

, sa vie, son œuvre'' (1984) *'' Chu Ta : le génie du trait'' (1986) *''Some Reflections on Chinese Poetic Language and its Relation to Chinese Cosmology dans The Vitality of the Lyric Voice'' (1986) *''The Reciprocity of Subject and Object in Chinese Poetic Language dans Poetics East and West'' (1988) *''De l'arbre et du rocher'' (1989) *''Entre source et nuage, Voix de poètes dans la Chine d'hier et d'aujourd'hui'' (1990) *''Saisons à vie'' (1993) *''Trente-six poèmes d'amour'' (1997) *''Quand les pierres font signe'' (1997) (with Fabienne Verdier) *'' Le Dit de Tianyi'' (1998,

Prix Femina The Prix Femina is a French literary prize created in 1904 by 22 writers for the magazine '' La Vie heureuse'' (today known as '' Femina''). The prize is decided each year by an exclusively female jury. They reward French-language works writte ...

) *''

Shitao Shitao or Shi Tao (; other department Yuan Ji (), 1642 – 1707), born into the Ming dynasty imperial clan as Zhu Ruoji (朱若極), was a Chinese Buddhist monk, calligrapher, and landscape painter during the early Qing dynasty. Born in the Qu ...

: la saveur du monde'' (1998, Prix André Malraux) *''Cantos toscans'' (1999) *''D'où jaillit le chant'' (2000) *''Double chant'' (2000, Prix Roger Caillois) *''Et le souffle devient signe'' (2001) *''Qui dira notre nuit'' (2001) *''L'éternité n'est pas de trop'', Albin Michel, (2002) *''Le Dialogue, Une passion pour la langue française'', Desclée de Brouwer, (2002) *''Le Long d'un amour'', Arfuyen, (2003) *''Le Livre du vide médian'', Albin Michel, (2004) *''Que nos instants soient d'accueil'', with Francis Herth (2005) *''À l'orient de tout'', Gallimard, (2005) *''Cinq méditations sur la beauté'', Albin Michel, (2006) *''L'un vers l'autre. En voyage avec

Victor Segalen Victor Segalen (14 January 1878 – 21 May 1919) was a French naval doctor, ethnographer, archeologist, writer, poet, explorer, art-theorist, linguist and literary critic. He was born in Brest. He studied medicine and graduated at the Navy ...

'', Albin Michel, (2008) *''Quand reviennent les âmes errantes'', Albin Michel, (2012) *''Cinq méditations sur la mort – autrement dit sur la vie – ''Broché (2013)''

References

External links

Biography on the Académie française website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheng, Francois 1929 births Living people People from Nanchang Members of the Académie Française Chinese emigrants to France 20th-century Chinese poets Nanjing University alumni École pratique des hautes études alumni Prix Roger Caillois recipients Prix Femina winners 20th-century French male writers 20th-century French poets 21st-century French poets 21st-century French male writers French translators Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Audiobook narrators Chevaliers of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres French male non-fiction writers Naturalized citizens of France University of Nanking alumni French-language writers from China

Biography

Marriage and family

Bibliography

See also

References

External links