Eileen Chang; Chinese Novelist, Short-Story Writer

Eileen Chang, 74, popular Chinese novelist whose work captivated readers in Taiwan and Hong Kong but was banned in mainland China until recently. A recluse living in Los Angeles in her later years, Miss Chang was a native of Shanghai whose writing often criticized communism. She first realized literary success with her 1943 novella, “The Golden Cangue.” Among her most popular novels were “Rice Sprout Song,” published in 1954, and “The Naked Earth,” in 1956. Several of her stories, including “Love in a Fallen City,” “The Rouge of the North” and “Red Rose, White Rose,” were made into films. Literary critics particularly praised her early short stories. Dominic Cheung, USC professor of East Asian languages, said Miss Chang was such an extraordinary writer that she undoubtedly would have earned a Nobel Prize had she not been caught in the political division between the Nationalist and Communist Chinese. Discovered on Sept. 8 in Los Angeles of natural causes.