# Ru Zhijuan

Ru Zhijuan (Wade–Giles: Ju Chih-chüan, 30 October 1925 – 7 October 1998) was a Chinese writer best known for her short stories. Ru was one of the most important writers of her generation. Her second daughter Wang Anyi is also a famous writer.

## Biography

Ru Zhijuan, the youngest of 5 children, was born in Shanghai to migrants from Hangzhou. When she was 3, her mother died and her father left; she and a brother were raised by their grandmother. She did not begin primary school until age 10, and a year later moved to Hangzhou with her grandmother, who died shortly after. She was sent to an orphanage in Shanghai. After a year each at a women's vocational school, a Christian missionary boarding school for girls, and a county school, she graduated from secondary school with only four years of schooling. She taught school for a short time in 1943 before joining the propaganda division of the New Fourth Army. In 1944, she married Wang Xiaoping, who was born in Singapore but arrived in China to fight the Japanese during the Second Sino-Japanese War. In 1947, she joined the Chinese Communist Party. In 1955, she became the editor of the Monthly for Literature and Art, retiring in 1960 to write full-time.
The 1958 short story "Lilies" was criticized by some for its "bourgeois sentimentality" but became popular after it was praised by Minister of Culture and author Mao Dun. Many of her stories of this period were intended to show popular support for the revolution and the communist party. She also dealt with the changes in Chinese society from traditional values. She did not publish any work from 1962 to 1965, because it was felt at the time that her work dealt with the worries of everyday people rather than more important issues.
She regained favour when the values from the Cultural Revolution were being reconsidered. They are generally critical of earlier policies and promote the new social norms.
She served as Chinese Communist Party Committee Secretary for the Shanghai Writer's Association. She died in Shanghai at the age of 73.

## Works translated into English

| Year | Chinese title | Translated English title | Translator(s) |
| 1958 | 百合花 | "The Lilies on a Comforter" | Kai-yu Hsu |
| 1958 | 百合花 | "Lilies" | R. A. Roberts |
| 1958 | 百合花 | "Lilies" | Robert E. Hegel |
| 1959 | 澄河边上 | "On the Banks of the Cheng" | Gladys Yang |
| 1959 | 春暖时节 | "The Warmth of Spring" | |
| 1959 | Sabina Knight |
| 1959 | 如愿 | "A Promise Is Kept" | Yu Fanqin |
| 1960 | 静静的产院 | "The Maternity Home" | Tang Sheng |
| 1961 | 三走严庄 | "A Third Visit to Yanzhuang" | Qin Sheng |
| 1961 | 同志之间 | "Comradeship" | Gladys Yang |
| 1961 | 阿舒 | "Just a Happy-Go-Lucky Girl" | Wen Xue |
| 1961 | 在那东海边上 | "Between Two Seas" | Zhang Su |
| 1962 | 第二步 | "The Beginning of Tomorrow" | Zhang Su |
| 1979 | 剪辑错了的故事 | "A Story Out of Sequence" | Tian Fan, John Minford |
| 1979 | 剪辑错了的故事 | "A Badly Edited Story" | Wang Mingjie |
| 1979 | 草原上的小路 | "The Path Through the Grassland" | Yu Fanqin |
| 1980 | 儿女情 | "Sons and Successors" | Ellen Klempner |
| 1980 | 儿女情 | "My Son, My Son" | Nancy Lee |
| 1980 | 我写〈百合花〉的经过 | "How I Came to Write 'Lilies on a Comforter'" | John Balcom |

## Filmography

| Year | English title | Chinese title | Notes |
| 1960 | Their Wishes | 她们的心愿 | Segment 3: "Just Mention Your Need" (只要你说一声需要) |
| 1961 | Spring Hastens the Blossoms Blooming | 春催桃李 | Co-wrote with Ai Mingzhi |

## Major awards

* 1980: 2nd National Short Story Prize, "A Story Out of Sequence" ("A Badly Edited Story")