Chinese Literature - Li-hua Ying 2010

SAN MAO, PEN NAME OF CHEN PING (1943—1991)
The Dictionary

SAN MAO, PEN NAME OF CHEN PING (1943—1991). Born in Chongqing, the wartime capital of the Republic of China, San Mao moved to Taiwan with her parents. A precocious child, she had trouble fitting into the public school of Taipei and was subsequently home-schooled. She began publishing stories in her teens, but did not gain fame until the release of her first book, Sahala de gushi (The Sahara Tales), which records her personal experience in the African desert. Most of her later works are also based on her own experiences abroad. Wan shui qian shan zhoubian (Trip to South and Central America) is a travel journal commissioned by the Lianhe Daily after San Mao returned to Taiwan in the wake of her Spanish husband’s sudden death in a drowning accident. San Mao taught creative writing at the Chinese Culture University and delivered guest lectures all over Taiwan. Her popularity reached new heights after she committed suicide in a Taipei hospital. See also WOMEN.