Eileen Chang. [Photo/Xinhua]

Eileen Chang

Eileen Chang was one of the best-known contemporary Chinese female writers. She was born in 1920. Her fictional novels are mainly tragic romances. Some TV and film adaptations of her works also enjoy great popularity. Director Ang Lee adapted her Lust, Caution in 2007.

There is a very popular quotation from Zhang's novel, The Red Rose and the White Rose: "Everyman might have two women, at least two. One is a red rose, the other white. If he married the red, the red will worsen to a drop of irritating mosquito blood on the wall, while the white is the bright moonlight in front of his window; if he gets married to the white, the white will descend to the annoying rice attached to the clothes, while the red is a beauty spot he misses".