Lao She

Lao She
Portrait photo of the writer Lao She
Lao She, c. 1934
BornShu Qingchun
(1899-02-03)3 February 1899
Beijing, Qing Empire
Died24 August 1966(1966-08-24) (aged 67)
Beijing, People's Republic of China
Resting placeBabaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery, Beijing
Pen nameLao She
OccupationNovelist, dramatist
LanguageChinese
Alma materBeijing Normal University
Notable worksRickshaw Boy
Teahouse
SpouseHu Jieqing
Children4
Chinese name
Chinese
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinLǎo Shě
Wade–GilesLao3 Shê3
IPA[làʊ ʂɤ̀]
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationLóuh Se
JyutpingLou5 Se3
IPA[lɔw˩˧ sɛ˧]
Shu Qingchun
Traditional Chinese
Simplified Chinese
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinShū Qìngchūn
Wade–GilesShu1 Ch'ing4-ch'un1
Shu Sheyu
Chinese
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinShū Shěyǔ
Wade–GilesShu1 Shê3-yü3

Shu Qingchun (3 February 1899 – 24 August 1966), known by his pen name Lao She, was a Chinese novelist and dramatist. He was a writer of 20th-century Chinese literature, known for his novel Rickshaw Boy and the play Teahouse (茶馆). He was of Manchu ethnicity, and his works are known for their vivid use of the Beijing dialect.

Lao She was a writer whose life span covered all stages of modern China: the Qing dynasty, the Republic and the Communists.[1]

Lao She was greatly influenced by the writer Charles Dickens. Born during the end of the Qing dynasty, Lao She was from the Manchu Sumuru clan and experienced the Boxer Rebellion first hand as well as the atrocities committed by the Eight-Nation Alliance, a scarring experience for him. During the Cultural Revolution, Shu was tortured by the Red Guards, causing him to become insane. Shu either died by drowning himself or was murdered.[2][3]

  1. ^ "Lao She and Modern Chinese Literature", Lao She and the Chinese Revolution, BRILL, pp. 1–4, 18 October 1974, doi:10.1163/9781684171866_002, ISBN 9781684171866, retrieved 27 November 2021
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference lee2002 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).