Elizabeth VANDERVEN

Shen Congwen, pictured with his wife, the writer Zhang Zhaohe; they were one of China’s most famous literary couples.
Shen Congwen wrote poetry, novels, essays, short stories, and novellas. After the Chinese Communist Party took control of the government in 1949, Shen was branded a conservative, and his books were banned.
Born in Fenghuang Chen (Phoenix Town), a scenic village populated by the Miao minority in Hunan Province, Shen Congwen briefly