Xi Xi
Encyclopedia
Xi Xi is the pseudonym
of the Chinese author and poet Zhang Yan . She was born in China and came to Hong Kong
at the age of twelve. She was a teacher and now a Hong Kong-based writer. Her works are popular in Taiwan
and mainland China
. She has become rather well-known to secondary school age Hong Kong
people these years likewise, though, not owing to her other specific masterpieces but, very likely, “Shops”, one of her essays which is adopted as reading materials for the Chinese Language paper of Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination
by the Hong Kong Examination Authority. The screenplay for the 2006 film, 2 Become 1
was based on her novel, “Mourn Over the Breasts”(哀悼乳房). The film starred Hong Kong
Cantopop
singer Miriam Yeung
, as a woman who suffers breast cancer
.
Xi Xi's native county is Zhongshan
, Guangdong
. She was born in Shanghai
, where she attended primary school, in 1938. In 1950, she immigrated to Hong Kong
with her parents. Her father worked at Kowloon Motor Bus as a ticket checker. Besides, he had been a Division A soccer team trainer and, later, a referee since he was in Shanghai
, thus Xi Xi had developed an immense interest in soccer when she was young. Xi Xi has two brothers and two sisters.
Afterward Xi Xi attended her secondary school classes at Heep Yunn School
, where she had lessons instructed in Cantonese; she started her English-instructed lessons from Form 4. In the early life in Hong Kong, Xi Xi was living in poverty, and she had to worry about her expenses on textbook and school uniform, and fees on Home Economics
lessons to boot at all times. As a junior secondary student, she had begun to write to the local newspapers and magazines.
, was published in “Everyone’s Literature” (《人人文學》) in the 1950s. When Xi Xi was studying in Form 3, she won the first price in the senior section of a writing competition organised by “Learn-mates” (《學友》) which the chief editor was Wun Pik-lam (雲碧琳). In 1957, she continued her studies at the Grantham College of Education (later merged with others constitute colleges to form the Hong Kong Institute of Education
), and became a teacher of a local governmental primary school after graduation. During her career as a teacher, she was an active member in the campaigns fighting for teachers’ rights. Besides poetry
, novel
, essay
, fairy tale
and translated
literature, Xi Xi had an attempt in writing TV screenplay
in the 1960s, like “The Dark Green Age” (《黛綠年華》) and “The Window” (《窗》), and numerous movie critics as well, in a refreshing yet vivid style. She was one of the pioneers in the field of experimental film
s in Hong Kong.
Later, Xi Xi had been concentrated on the production of novels, likewise columns in various newspapers and magazines:
Moreover, she had been the editor of “Chinese Students’ Weekly” poetry section (1960s), as well as of “Thumb Weekly” (《大拇指周報》) (1975-1977) and “Plain Leaf Literature” (《素葉文學》) (1981-1984), which were founded by Xi Xi and her friends in 1978. Plain Leaf was a non-profitmaking publisher, with its solemn, high-standard, and non-commercialised local publication, which was actually rare in the book market of Hong Kong. Up to 1984, The publishing company had produced books of 22 categories, including “A Loafer Who Burnt His Guitar” (《焚琴的浪子》), a collection of Ma Lang’s (馬朗) poems; “A Tour in Mirrors” (《鏡遊》), a Chinese movie
critic
s collection by Lin Nian-tong (林年同); and “My Resplendence” (《我的燦爛》), a Zhong Lin-lin’s (鍾玲玲) essay and poem collection. Along with different series of readers, Plain Leaf had also published a magazine called “Plain Leaf Literature” for 25 volumes. The publishing company closed down at length due to its excess deficit, yet it was re-opened in the 1990s and Plain Leaf is still operating business these days.
In 1979, the number of teachers was over-supplied, and the Education Department
promoted an early retirement scheme. Xi Xi tendered her resignation, and subsequently paid more heed to studies and creative writing. However, Hong Kong had fluctuated drastically in social aspects in the 1980s, and the demand for teacher had been skyrocketing. Xi Xi was occasionally invited by her ex-colleagues and worked as a contracted teacher for a year, or even a substitute teacher. In fact, she did not desist her teaching career entirely.
, particularly in Sheung Wan
and Sai Ying Pun
, as well as other human behaviour in this hustling district. She expressed her tinge of nostalgia of her childhood, and of the disappearing old shops due to drastic infrastructural development.
Xi Xi enjoyed travelling, and she had been to Eastern Europe
, Turkey
, Egypt
, Greece
, and, most frequently, mainland China
. These places had given much inspiration to her writing. In 1983, “United Daily News
” re-published Xi Xi’s “A Lady Like Me" (《像我這樣的一個女子》) from “Plain Leaf Literature”, and it was the first time her works were known to Taiwan
people. And that passage won Xi Xi the Recommended Novella Prize, the highest prize in the United Daily News 8th Novel Prize.
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
of the Chinese author and poet Zhang Yan . She was born in China and came to Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
at the age of twelve. She was a teacher and now a Hong Kong-based writer. Her works are popular in Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
and mainland China
Mainland China
Mainland China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term that refers to the area under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China . According to the Taipei-based Mainland Affairs Council, the term excludes the PRC Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and...
. She has become rather well-known to secondary school age Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
people these years likewise, though, not owing to her other specific masterpieces but, very likely, “Shops”, one of her essays which is adopted as reading materials for the Chinese Language paper of Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination
Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination
The Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination was a standardized examination between 1974 and 2011 after most local students’ five-year secondary education, conducted by the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority . The examination will be discontinued in 2012...
by the Hong Kong Examination Authority. The screenplay for the 2006 film, 2 Become 1
2 Become 1 (film)
2 Become 1 is a 2006 Hong Kong romantic comedy-drama film directed by Law Wing-Cheong and produced by Johnnie To. The film stars Miriam Yeung as Bingo Leung, a working-class woman who discovers she has breast cancer...
was based on her novel, “Mourn Over the Breasts”(哀悼乳房). The film starred Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
Cantopop
Cantopop
Cantopop is a colloquialism for "Cantonese popular music". It is sometimes referred to as HK-pop, short for "Hong Kong popular music". It is categorized as a subgenre of Chinese popular music within C-pop...
singer Miriam Yeung
Miriam Yeung
Miriam Yeung, RN, is a Hong Kong actress and Cantopop singer. Before entering the entertainment business, she was a registered nurse at the Princess Margaret Hospital in Hong Kong. She studied at the Holy Family Canossian College Kowloon...
, as a woman who suffers breast cancer
Breast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...
.
Childhood
| Names Chinese name Personal names in Chinese culture follow a number of conventions different from those of personal names in Western cultures. Most noticeably, a Chinese name is written with the family name first and the given name next, therefore "John-Paul Smith" as a Chinese name would be "Smith John-Paul"... |
|
|---|---|
| Known in Chinese Chinese language The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages... as: |
張彥 |
| Government Romanization Hong Kong Government Cantonese Romanisation The Hong Kong Government Cantonese Romanisation is the more or less consistent way for romanising Cantonese proper nouns employed by the Hong Kong Government departments and many non-governmental organisations in Hong Kong... : |
Cheung Yin |
| Jyutping Jyutping Jyutping is a romanization system for Cantonese developed by the Linguistic Society of Hong Kong in 1993. Its formal name is The Linguistic Society of Hong Kong Cantonese Romanization Scheme... : |
Zoeng1 Jin6 |
| Pinyin Pinyin Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into... : |
Zhāng Yàn |
| Pen name Pen name A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her... : |
西西 |
| Government Romanization Hong Kong Government Cantonese Romanisation The Hong Kong Government Cantonese Romanisation is the more or less consistent way for romanising Cantonese proper nouns employed by the Hong Kong Government departments and many non-governmental organisations in Hong Kong... : |
Sai Sai |
| Jyutping Jyutping Jyutping is a romanization system for Cantonese developed by the Linguistic Society of Hong Kong in 1993. Its formal name is The Linguistic Society of Hong Kong Cantonese Romanization Scheme... : |
Sai1 Sai1 |
| Pinyin Pinyin Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into... : |
Xī Xī |
Xi Xi's native county is Zhongshan
Zhongshan
Zhongshan , also spelled Chungshan and historically known as Xiangshan or Siangshan, is a prefecture-level city in the south of the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong province in southern China. Zhongshan, one of the few cities in China with an eponymous name, is named after Dr. Sun Yat-sen who was...
, Guangdong
Guangdong
Guangdong is a province on the South China Sea coast of the People's Republic of China. The province was previously often written with the alternative English name Kwangtung Province...
. She was born in Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
, where she attended primary school, in 1938. In 1950, she immigrated to Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
with her parents. Her father worked at Kowloon Motor Bus as a ticket checker. Besides, he had been a Division A soccer team trainer and, later, a referee since he was in Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
, thus Xi Xi had developed an immense interest in soccer when she was young. Xi Xi has two brothers and two sisters.
Afterward Xi Xi attended her secondary school classes at Heep Yunn School
Heep Yunn School
Heep Yunn School is an Anglican girls' secondary school founded in 1936. It is located in Ma Tau Wai, Kowloon, Hong Kong.Heep Yunn is notable for its students' high academic achievement...
, where she had lessons instructed in Cantonese; she started her English-instructed lessons from Form 4. In the early life in Hong Kong, Xi Xi was living in poverty, and she had to worry about her expenses on textbook and school uniform, and fees on Home Economics
Home Economics
Home economics is the profession and field of study that deals with the economics and management of the home and community...
lessons to boot at all times. As a junior secondary student, she had begun to write to the local newspapers and magazines.
Early writing career
Her maiden piece, a fourteen-line modern Chinese poemChinese poetry
Chinese poetry is poetry written, spoken, or chanted in the Chinese language, which includes various versions of Chinese language, including Classical Chinese, Standard Chinese, Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese, Yue Chinese, as well as many other historical and vernacular varieties of the Chinese language...
, was published in “Everyone’s Literature” (《人人文學》) in the 1950s. When Xi Xi was studying in Form 3, she won the first price in the senior section of a writing competition organised by “Learn-mates” (《學友》) which the chief editor was Wun Pik-lam (雲碧琳). In 1957, she continued her studies at the Grantham College of Education (later merged with others constitute colleges to form the Hong Kong Institute of Education
Hong Kong Institute of Education
The Hong Kong Institute of Education is one of eight subsidised tertiary institutes under the University Grants Committee of Hong Kong. It is the only one dedicated to teacher education....
), and became a teacher of a local governmental primary school after graduation. During her career as a teacher, she was an active member in the campaigns fighting for teachers’ rights. Besides poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
, novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
, essay
Essay
An essay is a piece of writing which is often written from an author's personal point of view. Essays can consist of a number of elements, including: literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author. The definition...
, fairy tale
Fairy tale
A fairy tale is a type of short story that typically features such folkloric characters, such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, dwarves, giants or gnomes, and usually magic or enchantments. However, only a small number of the stories refer to fairies...
and translated
Translation
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. Whereas interpreting undoubtedly antedates writing, translation began only after the appearance of written literature; there exist partial translations of the Sumerian Epic of...
literature, Xi Xi had an attempt in writing TV screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
in the 1960s, like “The Dark Green Age” (《黛綠年華》) and “The Window” (《窗》), and numerous movie critics as well, in a refreshing yet vivid style. She was one of the pioneers in the field of experimental film
Experimental film
Experimental film or experimental cinema is a type of cinema. Experimental film is an artistic practice relieving both of visual arts and cinema. Its origins can be found in European avant-garde movements of the twenties. Experimental cinema has built its history through the texts of theoreticians...
s in Hong Kong.
Later, Xi Xi had been concentrated on the production of novels, likewise columns in various newspapers and magazines:
- 1960s: A fairy-tale column in “Tin Tin Daily” (天天日報), “Movies and Me” 《電影與我》in “Chinese Students’ Weekly” (中國學生周報), and “Bull’s Eye and Me”《牛眼和我》in “Express Daily” (快報);
- 1970s: “My Scrawling Room” (scrapbook) (《我之試寫室》剪貼冊) in “Express Daily”;
- 1980s: “Notes on Reading” (《閱讀筆記》) in “Express Daily”, “The Flower Column” in “Sing Dao Daily”, “Four Pieces of Jade” (《四塊玉》) in “United Daily NewsUnited Daily NewsThe United Daily News is a newspaper published in the Republic of China in both Traditional and Simplified Chinese. It is one of the three biggest newspapers in Taiwan, the other two being the China Times and the Liberty Times.-History:...
”, “Siu Ming Chow” (《小明周》), a children’s column about paintings, in “Ming Pao Monthly”, “Ear-man” (《隨耳想》), a musical column, in “Sing Dao Daily”, and “How Xi Xi Views Soccer” (《西西看足球》), a featured column for the World Cup, in “Ming PaoMing PaoMing Pao is a Chinese language newspaper published by Ming Pao Group in Hong Kong. In the 1990s, Ming Pao established four overseas branches in North America, each provides independent reporting on local news and collect local advertisements. Currently, only the two Canadian editions remain: Ming...
”.
Moreover, she had been the editor of “Chinese Students’ Weekly” poetry section (1960s), as well as of “Thumb Weekly” (《大拇指周報》) (1975-1977) and “Plain Leaf Literature” (《素葉文學》) (1981-1984), which were founded by Xi Xi and her friends in 1978. Plain Leaf was a non-profitmaking publisher, with its solemn, high-standard, and non-commercialised local publication, which was actually rare in the book market of Hong Kong. Up to 1984, The publishing company had produced books of 22 categories, including “A Loafer Who Burnt His Guitar” (《焚琴的浪子》), a collection of Ma Lang’s (馬朗) poems; “A Tour in Mirrors” (《鏡遊》), a Chinese movie
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
critic
Critic
A critic is anyone who expresses a value judgement. Informally, criticism is a common aspect of all human expression and need not necessarily imply skilled or accurate expressions of judgement. Critical judgements, good or bad, may be positive , negative , or balanced...
s collection by Lin Nian-tong (林年同); and “My Resplendence” (《我的燦爛》), a Zhong Lin-lin’s (鍾玲玲) essay and poem collection. Along with different series of readers, Plain Leaf had also published a magazine called “Plain Leaf Literature” for 25 volumes. The publishing company closed down at length due to its excess deficit, yet it was re-opened in the 1990s and Plain Leaf is still operating business these days.
In 1979, the number of teachers was over-supplied, and the Education Department
Education and Manpower Bureau
The Education Bureau is responsible for education policies in Hong Kong.The bureau is headed by the Secretary for Education and oversees the Secretariat, University Grants Committee and Student Financial Assistance Agencies...
promoted an early retirement scheme. Xi Xi tendered her resignation, and subsequently paid more heed to studies and creative writing. However, Hong Kong had fluctuated drastically in social aspects in the 1980s, and the demand for teacher had been skyrocketing. Xi Xi was occasionally invited by her ex-colleagues and worked as a contracted teacher for a year, or even a substitute teacher. In fact, she did not desist her teaching career entirely.
Late writing career
"Shops" is an essay written by Xi Xi, which has been adopted as reading materials for the Chinese language paper of the HKCEE. This passage illustrates the ageing buildings, squatters, and old-fashioned traditional shops in Central and Western DistrictCentral and Western District
The Central and Western District located on northern part of Hong Kong Island is one of the 18 administrative districts of Hong Kong. It had a population of 261,884 in 2001...
, particularly in Sheung Wan
Sheung Wan
Sheung Wan is an area in Hong Kong, located in the north-west of Hong Kong Island, between Central and Sai Ying Pun. Administratively, it is part of the Central and Western District...
and Sai Ying Pun
Sai Ying Pun
Sai Ying Pun is an area in Western District on the Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong. It is part of Central and Western District in district administration....
, as well as other human behaviour in this hustling district. She expressed her tinge of nostalgia of her childhood, and of the disappearing old shops due to drastic infrastructural development.
Xi Xi enjoyed travelling, and she had been to Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, and, most frequently, mainland China
Mainland China
Mainland China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term that refers to the area under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China . According to the Taipei-based Mainland Affairs Council, the term excludes the PRC Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and...
. These places had given much inspiration to her writing. In 1983, “United Daily News
United Daily News
The United Daily News is a newspaper published in the Republic of China in both Traditional and Simplified Chinese. It is one of the three biggest newspapers in Taiwan, the other two being the China Times and the Liberty Times.-History:...
” re-published Xi Xi’s “A Lady Like Me" (《像我這樣的一個女子》) from “Plain Leaf Literature”, and it was the first time her works were known to Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
people. And that passage won Xi Xi the Recommended Novella Prize, the highest prize in the United Daily News 8th Novel Prize.
Further reading
- Chinese Writers on Writing featuring Xi Xi. Ed. Arthur SzeArthur SzeArthur Sze is a second-generation Chinese American poet.-Background:Sze was educated at the University of California, Berkeley, and is the author of eight books of poetry...
. (Trinity University Press, 2010).