A wordsmith for humanity

Shen rarely wrote in the latter half of his life, but devoted himself to researching cultural relics at what is now the National Museum of China, especially ancient silk patterns, bronze mirrors and porcelain.

His Study of Ancient Chinese Clothing and Ornaments, published in 1981 in Hong Kong, was a great contribution to the history of Chinese materials.

It was not until the 1980s that Shen's literary works were rediscovered and his position in modern Chinese literary history reevaluated. Research on his works has boomed since then.

Nieh was born in 1925 in Wuhan, Hubei province, and went to Taiwan with her family in 1949 before immigrating to the US to attend the Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa in 1964.

Apart from her own writings, that have achieved global acclaim, represented by Mulberry and Peach: Two Women of China, she was known for co-founding the International Writing Program at the university with her late husband Paul Engle (1908-91).

Over 1,500 writers from more than 150 countries and regions have attended the program over the past five decades.