Chaozhu Wang

Wang Chaozhu was born in Wuqiao, Hebei, in 1941 and graduated from the Composition Department of the Central Conservatory of Music in 1966. He worked as a composer with the General Political Department Opera Troupe and later as a playwright with its drama troupe, joining the China Writers Association in 1988. In the early 1980s he turned to literary writing, focusing on historical biography and documentary prose as well as fiction. Drawing on modern Chinese revolutionary history and on political and military figures, his work is noted for careful attention to historical sources and for the portrayal of character. His more than thirty books include The Meritorious and the Guilty: The Tragedy of Pan Hannian, The Long March, Zhang Xueliang: Rebirth of the Young Marshal, Chiang Kai-shek and His Friends and Foes, and Hello, Xiaoping. He has also written for television and received Best Screenplay awards at the Feitian and Golden Eagle Awards.