Hou Yifan

Hou Yifan (Chinese: 侯逸凡; pinyin: Hóu Yìfán ,born on 27 February in 1994, Xinghua, Jiangsu, China) is a Chinese chess grandmaster and former chess prodigy. She is the current Women's World Chess Champion, the youngest ever to win the title, as well as the youngest female player ever to qualify for the title of Grandmaster.

At the age of 12, Hou became the youngest player ever to participate in the FIDE Women's World Championship (Yekaterinburg 2006) and the Chess Olympiad (Torino 2006). In June 2007, she became China's youngest National Women's Champion ever. She achieved the titles of Woman FIDE Master in January 2004, Woman Grandmaster in January 2007, and Grandmaster in August 2008. In 2010, she became the youngest Women's World Chess Champion in history by winning the 2010 Women's World Championship in Hatay, Turkey at age 16. In the Women's World Chess Championship 2012 she was eliminated early, but she regained the title in 2013, defeating Anna Ushenina. She then lost the world title by not playing in the 2015 Championship for scheduling reasons. Hou then defeated former world champion Mariya Muzychuk in the 2016 World Championship match to regain the title.

Hou is the third woman ever to be rated among the world's top 100 players, after Judit Polgár and Maia Chiburdanidze, in the August 2014 FIDE rating list. She is widely regarded as the best active female chess player, 'leaps and bounds' ahead of her competitors. As of March 2016, she is ranked as the No. 1 female player, nearly 100 points ahead of her closest competitor Humpy Koneru, and the no. 73 player overall.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hou_Yifan

Bi Feiyu (Chinese: 毕飞宇; pinyin: Bì Fēiyǔ, born in 1964) is a Chinese writer. His works are known for their complex portrayal of the 'female psyche.' He has won some of the highest literary awards in China. He also wrote the screenplay for Zhang Yimou's 1996 film Shanghai Triad.

Critical reception

Feiyu's novel The Moon Opera (青衣), translated by Howard Goldblatt, was longlisted for the 2008 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, while Three Sisters (玉米, 玉秀, 玉秧), also translated by Goldblatt, won the 2010 Man Asian Literary Prize. In China, his awards include twice winning the Lu Xun Literary Prize; and the 2011 Mao Dun Prize, the highest national literary award, for Massage.

Selected works in translation

Massage. Translators Howard Goldblatt and Sylvia Li-chun Lin. Melbourne: Penguin. February 2015. ISBN 978-0-67-008097-7.

Three Sisters. Translators Howard Goldblatt and Sylvia Li-chun Lin. London: Telegram. June 2010. ISBN 9781846590238.

The Moon Opera. Translators Howard Goldblatt and Sylvia Li-chun Lin. London: Telegram. November 2007. ISBN 978-0-15-101294-7.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bi_Feiyu

Zheng Xie

Zheng Xie (Chinese: 鄭燮; pinyin: Zhèng Xiè) (1693–1765), commonly known as Zheng Banqiao (Chinese: 鄭板橋; pinyin: Zhèng Bǎnqiáo) was a Chinese painter from Jiangsu. He began life in poverty, but rose in the exam system to become a magistrate at Shandong. However, after 12 years, he became critical of the life of an official as he refused to ingratiate himself with senior officials. When he was reportedly criticized for building a shelter for the poor, he resigned. After that, he expressed himself in art and became one of the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou. He was noted for his drawing of orchids, bamboo, and stones. In 1748 he briefly resumed an official career as 'official calligrapher and painter' for the Qianlong Emperor.

Zheng was also a calligrapher who created a new calligraphy style influenced by his orchid drawings. Added to this, he had an interest in literature and poetry. He preferred to write about ordinary people in a natural style.