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 Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans have ancestors from mainland China, Hong Kong ...

poet,

calligrapher Calligraphy () is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instruments. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an exp ...

, 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. It evolved from a music style local to Kunshan, part of the Wu (region), Wu cultural area, and later came to dominate ...

opera singer. She is hailed as "the last talented woman of the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

" ().

Life and career

Chang Ch'ung-ho (Zhang Chonghe) was born in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

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 ...

Hefei Hefei is the Capital city, capital of Anhui, China. A prefecture-level city, it is the political, economic, and cultural center of Anhui. Its population was 9,369,881 as of the 2020 census. Its built-up (or ''metro'') area is made up of four u ...

Anhui Anhui is an inland Provinces of China, province located in East China. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, bordering Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east, Jiang ...

. 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, Anh ...

(; 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 ro ...

. At the age of 21, she was accepted to

Peking University Peking University (PKU) is a Public university, public Types of universities and colleges in China#By designated academic emphasis, university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of the Peop ...

. After graduating from PKU, Chang Ch'ung-ho became an editor for the newspaper ''

Central Daily News The ''Central Daily News'' was the official newspaper of the Kuomintang and is one of the world's oldest Chinese language newspapers, having been in circulation since 1928. The Kuomintang made the decision to temporarily cease publication of the n ...

''. In 1947, Chang met Hans Fränkel 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 Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

and 20 other universities, teaching traditional

Chinese culture Chinese culture () is one of the Cradle of civilization#Ancient China, world's earliest cultures, said to originate five thousand years ago. The culture prevails across a large geographical region in East Asia called the Sinosphere as a whole ...

. After the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...

, Chang visited

Suzhou Suzhou is a major prefecture-level city in southern Jiangsu province, China. As part of the Yangtze Delta megalopolis, it is a major economic center and focal point of trade and commerce. Founded in 514 BC, Suzhou rapidly grew in size by the ...

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 ( zh, t=湯顯祖, s=汤显祖, first=t; 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 off ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

. 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 of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...

, aged 101.

Selected works

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

Life and career

Selected works

References

Further reading