Chung Chao-cheng

Chung Chao-cheng (; Hakka Chinese Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: Chûng Sau-chṳn; 20 January 1925 – 16 May 2020) was a Taiwanese novelist and Hakka native born in the Hsinchu Prefecture during the Japanese rule period (now part of Lungtan District, Taoyuan City). Revered as the "Mother of Taiwanese Literature" in Taiwan, he is also frequently mentioned alongside Taiwanese writer Yeh Shih-tao, collectively known as "North Chung, South Yeh".

Chung was born on 20 January 1925, in Longtan District, Taoyuan. Under Japanese rule, the subdivision was classified as a village by the name of Ryūtan, itself a part of Daikei, in Shinchiku Prefecture. His father was a schoolteacher and principal. Chung was sixth of ten siblings, and the only son. He enrolled successively at the and then the Changhua Normal School, and later studied at National Taiwan University, but did not complete a degree in the Department of Chinese Language and Literature, due to a bout of malaria. He learned to speak Taiwanese Hokkien at an early age, and was educated in the Japanese language. Chung taught at Longtan Elementary School until 1979, switching from Hakka to teaching in Mandarin at the request of the Kuomintang-led government. His knowledge of languages made Chung a member of the translingual generation. Provided by Wikipedia