Han Suyin facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Elizabeth KC Comber
(aka Han Suyin) |
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| Born | Rosalie Matilda Kuanghu Chou 12 September 1916 Xinyang, Henan, Republic of China |
| Died | 2 November 2012 (aged 95) Lausanne, Vaud, Switzerland |
| Resting place | Bois-de-Vaux Cemetery |
| Pen name | Han Suyin |
| Occupation | Author and physician |
| Language | Chinese, English, French |
| Citizenship | British |
| Period | 1942–2012 |
| Genre | Fiction, history, biographies |
| Subject | Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai |
| Notable works | A Many-Splendoured Thing The Crippled Tree My House Has Two Doors |
| Spouse | Tang Pao-Huang (1938–1947) Leon Comber (1952–1958) Vincent Ratnaswamy (1960–2003) |
| Children | 2 (adopted) |
| Han Suyin | |||||||||||
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| Chinese | 周光瑚 | ||||||||||
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| Alternative Chinese name | |||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 韓素音 | ||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 韩素音 | ||||||||||
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Han Suyin was the pen name of Rosalie Matilda Kuanghu Chou. She was a doctor and a famous writer. Born in China, she had a Chinese father and a Belgian mother. She wrote in English and French. Her books were often about modern China and set in East and Southeast Asia. She also wrote her own life story in several books. Han Suyin was known for supporting the Chinese Communist Revolution. She lived in Lausanne, Switzerland, for many years until she passed away.
Contents
A Life of Writing and Healing
Early Life and Studies
Han Suyin was born in Xinyang, Henan, China. Her father, Chou Wei, was a Chinese engineer who studied in Belgium. Her mother, Marguerite Denis, was Belgian.
When she was almost 15, in 1931, Han Suyin started working as a typist. This was at the Peking Union Medical College. In 1933, she began studying at Yenching University. She felt treated unfairly there because she was of mixed heritage. In 1935, she went to Brussels to study medicine.
Return to China and First Novel
In 1938, Han Suyin returned to China. She married Tang Pao-Huang, a Chinese military officer. He later became a general. She worked as a midwife at a hospital in Chengdu, Sichuan. Her first book, Destination Chungking (1942), was about her experiences during this time. In 1940, she and her husband adopted their daughter, Tang Yungmei.
In 1944, she moved to London with her daughter. She continued her medical studies at the Royal Free Hospital. Her husband was working in Washington and later on the front lines of the Chinese Civil War. In 1947, while she was still in London, her husband died in the war.
Life in Hong Kong and Malaysia
Han Suyin finished her medical degree in 1948. In 1949, she went to Hong Kong to work as a doctor. There, she met and fell in love with Ian Morrison, a journalist. He passed away in Korea in 1950. Their story inspired her very popular novel, A Many-Splendoured Thing (1952). She also wrote about their relationship in her autobiography, My House Has Two Doors (1980).
In 1952, she married Leon Comber, a British officer. They moved to Johore, Malaya (now Malaysia). She worked at the Johor Bahru General Hospital. She also opened her own clinics. In 1953, she adopted another daughter, Chew Hui-Im, in Singapore.
In 1955, Han Suyin helped start Nanyang University in Singapore. She worked there as a doctor. She was offered a job teaching literature but preferred to focus on medicine. She wanted to help create new Asian literature, not just teach old classics.
Famous Book and Later Life
Also in 1955, her famous novel, A Many-Splendoured Thing, was made into a movie. It was called Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing. The main song from the movie won an Academy Award. Han Suyin later said she never watched the movie. She sold the film rights to pay for an operation for her adopted daughter, who had a lung illness. The movie was even turned into a TV show later on.
In 1956, she published another novel, And the Rain My Drink. This book described a conflict in Malaya. It was about Chinese rubber workers fighting against the government. Some people felt the book was unfair to the British. Her husband, Leon Comber, even resigned from his job because of it. Han Suyin and Leon Comber divorced in 1958.
In 1960, Han Suyin married Vincent Ratnaswamy, an Indian army officer. They lived in Bangalore, India, for a while. Later, they lived in Hong Kong and Switzerland. She stayed in Lausanne, Switzerland. They remained married until Vincent Ratnaswamy passed away in 2003.
After 1956, Han Suyin visited China almost every year. She was one of the first foreign people to visit China after the 1949 revolution. She even visited during the Cultural Revolution. She passed away in Lausanne on November 2, 2012, at the age of 95.
Han Suyin's Impact
Han Suyin did a lot to help literature in China. She gave money to the Chinese Writers Association. This helped create an award for the best literary translation. It is now called the Lu Xun Literary Award.
She also started the "Han Suyin Award for Young Translators." This award helps young people who translate books. It has given out awards many times since it started.
Han Suyin also had a big influence on Asian American literature. Her books were published in English. They showed Asian characters in a new way. This was different from how they were often shown by other writers. Writer Frank Chin said Han Suyin was one of the few who wrote truly about Chinese fairy tales, heroes, and history.
