Chung Chao-cheng

Chung Chao-cheng (Chinese: 鍾肇政; Hakka Chinese Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: Chûng Sau-chṳn; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Cheng Tiāu-chèng 20 January 1925 – 16 May 2020) was a Taiwanese novelist and Hakka native born in the Hsinchu Prefecture during the Japanese rule period (now part of Lungtan District, Taoyuan City). Revered as the "Mother of Taiwanese Literature" in Taiwan, he is also frequently mentioned alongside Taiwanese writer Yeh Shih-tao, collectively known as "North Chung, South Yeh".[1]

The Japanese-style dormitory at Longtan Elementary School, where Chung Chao-cheng worked as a primary school teacher, has been renamed as the "Chong Chao-cheng Literature Life Park Resident Workstation".

Chung was born on 20 January 1925,[2] in Longtan District, Taoyuan.[3][4] Under Japanese rule, the subdivision was classified as a village by the name of Ryūtan, itself a part of Daikei, in Shinchiku Prefecture. His father was a schoolteacher and principal.[3] Chung was sixth of ten siblings, and the only son.[4] He enrolled successively at the Tamkang Middle School [zh] and then the Changhua Normal School, and later studied at National Taiwan University, but did not complete a degree in the Department of Chinese Language and Literature, due to a bout of malaria.[3] He learned to speak Taiwanese Hokkien at an early age, and was educated in the Japanese language.[5] Chung taught at Longtan Elementary School until 1979,[2][6] switching from Hakka to teaching in Mandarin at the request of the Kuomintang-led government.[5] His knowledge of languages made Chung a member of the translingual generation.[5]

  1. ^ Chung, Chao-cheng's Concern for Taiwan (2020). 鍾肇政的臺灣關懷 [Chung Chao-cheng's Concern for Taiwan]. Taipei: Yuan-Liou Publishing. ISBN 978-986-5659-39-4.
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference ltn was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b c "The River Runs Wide: The Literary Carreer [sic] of Chung Chao-cheng". Taiwan e-Learning and Digital Archives Program. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
  4. ^ a b "Chung Chao-cheng: the author who launched Taiwan's roman-fleuve". Hakka Affairs Council. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
  5. ^ a b c Han Cheung (24 May 2020). "Taiwan in Time: A great loss for Taiwanese literature". Taipei Times. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  6. ^ "Writer | Chung Chao-cheng". Ministry of Culture. 7 January 2016. Retrieved 16 May 2020.