Geling Yan

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Chinese-American author and screenwriter (born 1958)

title: "Geling Yan" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["chinese-women-short-story-writers", "chinese-dramatists-and-playwrights", "chinese-women-dramatists-and-playwrights", "1958-births", "living-people", "chinese-women-novelists", "chinese-novelists", "short-story-writers-from-shanghai", "american-writers-of-chinese-descent", "people's-liberation-army-officers", "chinese-journalists", "20th-century-chinese-short-story-writers", "wuhan-university-alumni", "columbia-college-chicago-alumni", "chinese-military-personnel-of-the-sino-vietnamese-war"] description: "Chinese-American author and screenwriter (born 1958)" topic_path: "geography/china" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geling_Yan" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Chinese-American author and screenwriter (born 1958) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox writer "]

FieldValue
nameYan Geling
imageFile:严歌苓 (2023) 02.png
captionYan in 2023
birth_name严歌苓
birth_date
birth_placeShanghai, China
nationalityAmerican
occupationNovelist, screenwriter
notableworksA Woman's Epic
spouseLi Kewei
(?-1990s)
Lawrence Walker
(1992-)
children1
alma_materWuhan University
Columbia College Chicago
::

| name = Yan Geling | image = File:严歌苓 (2023) 02.png | caption = Yan in 2023 | birth_name = 严歌苓 | birth_date = | birth_place = Shanghai, China | death_date = | death_place = | nationality = American | occupation = Novelist, screenwriter | residence = | notableworks = A Woman's Epic | spouse = Li Kewei (?-1990s) Lawrence Walker (1992-) | children =1 | alma_mater = Wuhan University Columbia College Chicago Geling Yan (; born 16 November 1958) is a Chinese-American author and screenwriter.

Early life

Yan was born in Shanghai, China in 1958. She is the second child of Yan Dunxun and Jia Lin. She has an elder brother Yan Geping (严歌平). Her father is an alumnus of the College of Architecture and Urban Planning of Tongji University.

Yan began performing as a dancer at age 12. She served in the People's Liberation Army in Chengdu, during the Cultural Revolution in Tibet and later as a journalist in the Sino-Vietnamese War, achieving a rank equivalent to lieutenant colonel.

Yan holds a bachelor's degree in literature from Wuhan University, and a Master's in Fine Arts in Fiction Writing from Columbia College Chicago.

Career

Works

Her first novel was published in 1985. She is the author of such novels as The Banquet Bug (published as The Uninvited in the UK) and The Lost Daughter of Happiness, as well as a story collection entitled White Snake and Other Stories. Several of Yan's works have been adapted for film, including Xiu Xiu: The Sent-Down Girl, which was directed by Joan Chen, and Siao Yu, directed by Sylvia Chang and screenplay co-written by Ang Lee. Zhang Yimou, the Chinese director of To Live and Raise the Red Lantern adapted her novella 13 Flowers of Nanjing to the screen as The Flowers of War, and his movie Coming Home was based on Yan's novel The Criminal Lu Yanshi. She has worked on other scripts including a biography of Mei Lanfang, the Peking opera star, for Chinese director Chen Kaige.

Novels in English

  • The Banquet Bug (written in English, published as The Uninvited in the UK 简体版《赴宴者》)
  • The Lost Daughter of Happiness (tr. Cathy Silber, Chinese title Fusang 《扶桑》)
  • The Flowers of War (tr. Nicky Harman, Chinese title Jinling shisan chai 《金陵十三钗》)
  • Little Aunt Crane (tr. Esther Tyldesley, Chinese title Xiaoyi Duohe 《小姨多鶴》)
  • The Criminal Lu Yanshi (adapted into a movie, titled Coming Home)《陆犯焉识》
  • The Secret Talker

Novels in Chinese （Chronological order of publication）

  • 绿血
  • 一个女兵的悄悄话 (Yi ge nü bing di qiao qiao hua)
  • 雌性的草地
  • 草鞋权贵 (In 2009, the name was changed to Shuangjiang《霜降》)
  • 扶桑 (The Lost Daughter of Happiness )
  • 人寰 (In 2009, the name was changed to Xinli Yisheng Zaima 《心理医生在吗》）
  • 无出路咖啡馆
  • 花儿与少年
  • 第九个寡妇（The Ninth Widow）
  • 一个女人的史诗
  • 小姨多鹤（Auntie Duohe）
  • 寄居者
  • 铁梨花
  • 陆犯焉识
  • 金陵十三钗（The Flowers of War）
  • 补玉山居
  • 妈阁是座城（A City Called Macau）
  • 老师好美
  • 床畔
  • 舞男
  • 芳华（Youth）– English title: You Touched Me – (adapted into the eponymous movie)
  • 666号
  • 小站
  • 蜃楼

Short stories in English

  • The Landlady (tr. Lawrence A. Walker)
  • Disappointing Returns (tr. David Haysom)
  • White Snake and Other Stories (tr. Lawrence A. Walker)

Title

She is a member of the Hollywood Writers Guild of America, the Writer's Association of China, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Censorship in China

As of 11 February 2022, Yan was censored on China's internet after commenting on the atrocity and government cover-ups in the Xuzhou chained woman incident and agreeing with Zhou Xiaozheng's assessment that Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping is a "human trafficker" who imposed a large sum of money for "donation" on foreign families who adopt Chinese orphans. Baidu Baike showed "Sorry, the page you're visiting no longer exists" for Yan's entry. The search results for Yan's name on Sina Weibo became unavailable.

Personal life

Yan's ex-husband is Li Kewei; they divorced in the 1990s. In 1992, Yan married her second husband Lawrence Walker in San Bruno, California. Walker is a diplomat. They have no biological children together, but have adopted a Chinese girl, Yanyan.

References

References

  1. {{cite LCAuth
  2. Hille, Kathrin. (January 19, 2012). "Novelist threatens Apple with US lawsuit".
  3. [http://news.163.com/14/0909/04/A5M2LTJG00014AED.html 严歌苓： 翻手苍凉 覆手繁华] Retrieved 2017-01-14
  4. [http://phtv.ifeng.com/a/20150522/41089133_0.shtml "家"系列之严歌苓] Retrieved 2017-01-14
  5. (October 31, 2004). "Yan Geling". South China Morning Post.
  6. (7 July 2014). "Writing China: Yan Geling, 'The Criminal Lu Yanshi'". Wall Street Journal.
  7. (9 December 2006). "Review: The Uninvited by Geling Yan".
  8. (19 January 2012). "Nanjing Requiem, by Ha JinThe Flowers of War, by Geling Yan".
  9. (2008). "Xiao yi Duohe". Taibei Shi: San min shu ju gu fen you xian gong s.
  10. (2011). "Lu fan Yan shi". Zuo jia chu ban she.
  11. "The Secret Talker".
  12. Yan, Geling. (1987). "Yi ge nü bing di qiao qiao hua". Jie fang jun wen yi chu ban she : Xin hua shu dian Beijing fa xing suo fa xing.
  13. 严歌苓. (1989). "雌性的草地: 长篇新潮丛书". 解放军文艺出版社.
  14. Yan, Geling. (1998). "Ren huan: Cao xie quan gui". Chun feng wen yi chu ban she : Liaoning sheng xin hua shu dian fa xing.
  15. 严歌苓. (1996). "扶桑: 文瀚阁创作丛书". 中国华侨出版社.
  16. Yan, Geling. (2001). "Wu chu lu ka fei guan: Wuchulukafeiguan". Bai hua wen yi chu ban she.
  17. Yan, Ge ling. (2012). "Hua er yu shao nian". Shan xi shi fan ta xue chu ban zong she you xian gong si.
  18. (2008). "Di Jiu Ge Gua Fu". Shaanxi Normal University General Publishing House.
  19. (2008). "Xiao yi Duohe". Taibei Shi: San min shu ju gu fen you xian gong si.
  20. Yan, Geling. (2009). "Ji ju zhe". Xin xing chu ban she.
  21. Xiao, Ma. (2010). "Tie li hua =: Tielihua". Shanxi shi fan da xue chu ban she.
  22. Yan, Ge ling. (2011). "Lu fan Yan shi". Zuo jia chu ban she.
  23. (2012). "Jinling shi san chai: Yan Geling zuo pin". Shanxi shi fan da xue chu ban she.
  24. (2014). "Ma ge shi zuo cheng". Ren min wen xue chu ban she.
  25. Yan, Ge ling. (2014). "Lao shi hao mei". Tian jin ren min chu ban she.
  26. yan ge ling. (2015). "chuang pan".
  27. Yan, Ge ling. (2016). "Wu nan". shang hai wen yi chu ban she.
  28. Tu, Hang. (2025). "Sentimental Republic: Chinese Intellectuals and the Maoist Past". [[Harvard University Asia Center]].
  29. (14 December 2017). "Review: In 'Youth,' the People's Dance Troupe, in Love and War". The New York Times.
  30. (21 September 2015). "The Landlady".
  31. "Read Paper Republic: Disappointing Returns".
  32. "White Snake".
  33. (14 February 2022). "Weibo censored a famous novelist who voiced her anger over China's inhumanity to women".
  34. (11 February 2022). "China claims arrests of human traffickers in chained woman case". BBC News.
  35. (2022-02-14). "Weibo censored a famous novelist who voiced her anger over China's inhumanity to women". Quartz.
  36. [http://mt.sohu.com/20161020/n470823489.shtml 严歌苓：做一个在美国畅销的中国作家] Retrieved 2017-01-14

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chinese-women-short-story-writerschinese-dramatists-and-playwrightschinese-women-dramatists-and-playwrights1958-birthsliving-peoplechinese-women-novelistschinese-novelistsshort-story-writers-from-shanghaiamerican-writers-of-chinese-descentpeople's-liberation-army-officerschinese-journalists20th-century-chinese-short-story-writerswuhan-university-alumnicolumbia-college-chicago-alumnichinese-military-personnel-of-the-sino-vietnamese-war