Biography books from China
Recommended biography books (19)
Travel the world without leaving your chair.
If you are into biography here are some biography books from China for the next part of the Read Around The World Challenge.
1.
1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows : A Memoir by Ai Weiwei EN
Description:
The “intimate and expansive” (Time) memoir of “one of the most important artists working in the world today” (Financial Times), telling a remarkable history of China over the last hundred years while also illuminating his artistic process “Poignant . . . An illuminating through-line emerges in the many parallels Ai traces between his life and his father’s.”—The New York Times Book Review (Editors’ Choice) ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Time, BookPage, Booklist, Kirkus Reviews Once a close associate of Mao Zedong and the nation’s most celebrated poet, Ai Weiwei’s father, Ai Qing, was brande... continue
2.
A Daughter of Han; the Autobiography of a Chinese Working Woman by Ida Pruitt, from the story told her by Ning Lao T'ai-t'ai EN
Description:
2011 Reprint of 1945 Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. In "A Daughter of Han" author Ida Pruitt presents the autobiography of a Chinese working woman. Through this story the reader gains insight into the China of the poor, of women, and of the provinces. The subject of the autobiography, Ning Lao Tai-Tai, is also interesting as she lived in the period, the late 19th to mid 20th century, during which China underwent its most dramatic changes. This is a genuine, warm-blooded, dramatic chronicle of a woman's life, of the life of one... continue
4.
China Cry : The Nora Lam Story by Nora Lam, Richard H. Schneider EN
Description:
Tells the true story of the love, courage, and struggles of one woman, Nora Lam, whose Christian faith led her to make the ultimate choice between life and death
5.
Chinese Cinderella: The True Story of an Unwanted Daughter by Adeline Yen Mah EN
Description:
Adeline Yen Mah returns to her roots to tell the story of her painful childhood and her ultimate triumph and courage in the face of despair.
6.
Falling Leaves : The Memoir of an Unwanted Chinese Daughter by Adeline Yen Mah EN
Description:
The emotionally wrenching yet ultimately uplifting memoir of a Chinese woman struggling to win the love and acceptance of her family. Born in 1937 in a port city a thousand miles north of Shanghai, Adeline Yen Mah was the youngest child of an affluent Chinese family who enjoyed rare privileges during a time of political and cultural upheaval. But wealth and position could not shield Adeline from a childhood of appalling emotional abuse at the hands of a cruel and manipulative stepmother. Determined to survive through her enduring faith in family unity, Adeline struggled for independence as she... continue
7.
From Emperor to Citizen : The Autobiography of Aisin-Gioro Pu Yi by Aisin-Gioro Pu Yi EN
Description:
Originally published: Peking: Foreign Languages Press, 1979.
8.
Little Reunions by Eileen Chang EN
Description:
A best-selling, autobiographical depiction of class privilege, bad romance, and political intrigue during World War II in China. Now available in English for the first time, Eileen Chang’s dark romance opens with Julie, living at a convent school in Hong Kong on the eve of the Japanese invasion. Her mother, Rachel, long divorced from Julie’s opium-addict father, saunters around the world with various lovers. Recollections of Julie’s horrifying but privileged childhood in Shanghai clash with a flamboyant, sometimes incestuous cast of relations that crowd her life. Eventually, back in Shanghai, ... continue
9.
Mao's Last Dancer by Li Cunxin EN
Description:
THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER AND BASIS FOR THE MAJOR MOTION PICTURE The extraordinary memoir of a peasant boy raised in rural Maoist China who was plucked from his village to study ballet and went on to become one of the greatest dancers of his generation. From a desperately poor village in northeast China, at age eleven, Li Cunxin was chosen by Madame Mao’s cultural delegates to be taken from his rural home and brought to Beijing, where he would study ballet. In 1979, the young dancer arrived in Texas as part of a cultural exchange, only to fall in love with America-and with an American woman... continue
10.
Message from an Unknown Chinese Mother : Stories of Loss and Love by Xinran EN
Description:
The stories of Chinese mothers whose daughters have been wrenched from them, and also brings us the voices of some adoptive mothers from different parts of the world. These are stories which Xinran could not bring herself to tell previously - because they were too painful and close to home.