Nien Cheng (pinyin: Zheng Nian, January 28, 1915 - November 2, 2009) was a Chinese-American writer. She was originally from Hubei Province and her father was a KMT official. Cheng studied at Yanjing University, then at the London School of Economics and Political Science in the United Kingdom, during which she married a Chinese student Zheng Kangqi. After completing their studies, The couple returned to China to support the war against Japan. Zheng Kangqi joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and later was stationed in Australia, where the couple lived for seven years. After 1949, the couple returned to Shanghai, and Zheng Kangqi worked for the British Shell International Petroleum Company as the General Manager of its Shanghai office. In 1957, Zheng Kangqi died of cancer, and Nien Cheng began to work as an assistant to the new General Manager, succeeding her husband. During the Cultural Revolution, Cheng was accused of being a British spy, had her home raided, and was detained in Shanghai's No. 1 Detention Center from 1966 to 1973, during which her only daughter was killed by Red Guards. After her release, Cheng worked for the local People's Political Consultative Conference, until she moved to the U.S. in 1980. In 1986, Cheng published Life and Death in Shanghai, a book documenting her personal experiences from the beginning of the Cultural Revolution to her departure for the U.S. The book was translated into several languages and published in various countries. On November 2, 2009, Cheng passed away in Washington, D.C. due to illness.
