Chow Chung-cheng (; July 20, 1908 in Yanping, Fujian – August 31, 1996 in

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

, Germany) was a Chinese artist known for her finger painting and autobiographical books.

Early life and education

Zhou was born the 4th child in a family of two girls and three boys (2 boys died young). Her father, Zhou Xuehui, the youngest son of

Zhou Fu Zhou Fu (, also romanised as Chow Fuh; (道光十七年十一月二十三日 in Chinese calendar) December 20, 1837 – (九月二十一 in Chinese calendar) October 21, 1921) was a Han Chinese official of the Qing dynasty. He was Viceroy of Lian ...

, was a successful businessman who ran many of his brother Zhou Xuexi's enterprises. She was born Zhou Lianquan (Chinese 周莲荃 or 周莲全), but later changed her name to Zhongzheng. Zhou was home schooled initially. When her demand to attend public school like her brothers and male cousins was denied, she seized the opportunity when her grandfather

died in 1921 in Tianjin, to ran away to Beijing. After three months negotiation with her parents openly, she returned home after they agreed that she and her sister were allowed to both attend public school and have the freedom to choose their husbands.Zhou, Weizeng (Chinese: 周慰曾),(2004). ''The Lady of Bonn and China'' (Chinese: 波恩的中国人中国的波恩人). Tianjin Guji Chubanshe. She attended Beiyang Women Normal School (now

Hebei Normal University Hebei Normal University () is a public research university in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province, China. It is a provincial key university with more than 100 years history, and is supported by both Hebei Province and Education Department of China. Hi ...

and then

Nankai University Nankai University (NKU or Nankai; ) is a national public research university located in Tianjin, China. It is a prestigious Chinese state Class A Double First Class University approved by the central government of China, and a member of the fo ...

for three years. As a junior, she left Nankai for Europe on September 21, 1926. Her destination was England to studying medicine but she enrolled at

Sciences Po , motto_lang = fr , mottoeng = Roots of the Future , type = Public university, Public research university''Grande école'' , established = , founder = Émile Boutmy , a ...

in Paris, obtaining PhD degree in political science in 1933.

Career

In 1936 Zhou returned to China with her husband. They settled in Beijing but Zhou soon returned to Paris and remarried a German in 1940. She taught at

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince o ...

for 3 years. When

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

broke out the couple moved to Berlin. To make a living after the war, she studied painting from 1951 to 1953 under Prof. Alfred Mahlau at the Hochschule für bildende Künste Hamburg (University of Fine Arts in Hamburg). She had exhibitions of her paintings in

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

, France, Italy, Spain and China. Most of her paintings were donated to Tianjin Art Museum (Chinese: 天津艺术博物馆). Her first book ''Kleine Sampan'' was translated into English, French, Italian and Dutch.

Publications

Zhou published several books in Germany,
Deutsche National Biblothek among them: *1957 (first edition), ''Kleine Sampan'' by Verlag Sauerländer; OCLC Number: 73297188 *1960, ''Zehn Jahre des Glücks'', by Verlag Sauerländer; *1967, Der König des Baumes, Reutlingen *1968, Die kleinen bunten Fische, Reutlingen *1970, Kraniche, Bonn- Bad Godesberg (zusammen mit Ellen Schmidt-Bleibtreu) *1973, Aber ein Vogel gehört zum Himmel und ein Fisch gehört zum Wasser, Opladen *1974, ''Slave Gold Flower'', by Opladen; *1983, Rot, rot muß es sein! Rund, rund muß es sein!, Stuttgart- Bad Cannstatt

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chow, Chung-cheng Artists from Tianjin 1908 births 1996 deaths Artists from Fujian Chinese women painters Chinese emigrants to Germany Nankai University alumni Sciences Po alumni Academic staff of Leiden University