author
Pu Zeng
1872–1935
A late Qing and early Republican-era Chinese novelist, translator, and publisher, best remembered for the influential novel Niehai Hua (A Flower in a Sinful Sea). His life bridged classical scholarship and modern world literature, helping bring new ideas and styles into Chinese writing.
1 Audiobook
孽海花
by Pu Zeng
About the author
Born in Changshu, Jiangsu, in 1872, Zeng Pu grew up in a scholarly world but also reached beyond it. He studied French in Beijing and became deeply interested in French literature and philosophy, an unusual path for a Chinese writer of his time.
He worked as a novelist, translator, and publisher during a period of intense change in China. His best-known work, Niehai Hua, became one of the notable late Qing novels and is often remembered for its sharp picture of society in turmoil.
Zeng Pu's career shows how older literary traditions and new international influences met in the early 20th century. Alongside his fiction, he translated European works and took part in the literary culture of Shanghai, leaving a place in the story of modern Chinese literature.