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" ().

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 flowin ...

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,

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

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. 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 university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

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 high ...

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 goa ...

, Chang visited Suzhou 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-leve ...

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 ...

, aged 101.

Selected works

* ''Taohuayu'' () or ''Peach Blossom Fish''

Life and career

Selected works

References

Further reading