Chang Hsiu-ya

Chang Hsiu-ya (; September 16, 1919 – June 29, 2001) was a female writer from Taiwan, also known by her baptismal name Cecilia and pen names such as Chen Lan , Chang Ya-lan , Hsin-ching (心井, literally "Well of Heart"), and others. Born in Cang County, Hebei Province, China, her family moved to Tianjin when she was seven years old. She later came to Taiwan in 1948. She served as a professor at Providence University and Fu Jen Catholic University's Graduate Institute. She is particularly well-known for her prose.

Career Chang Hsiu-ya began publishing works in children's weekly magazines when she was nine years old. At the age of 15, she published poems in the literary weekly of the Yi Shi Bao magazine. At 17, she published her first book, By the Banks of the Talung River . In 1948, she started publishing under the pen name Hsin-ching in Taiwan. In 1952, she published her first prose collection in Taiwan under her real name, Wild Pansy . Taiwanese scholar Frances Chang considers Ode to Narcissus , Lake Water and Autumn Oranges , and Below the Northern Window (北窗下) as the three peaks of Chang’s prose craftsmanship.

Reception Chang Hsiu-ya was not only a significant figure in women's literature, but was also hailed by poet Ya Hsien as a "master of beautiful writing". Ya believed that Chang was an artist full of nativist colors.