Author's Biography

Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China is a family history and memoir written by Chinese author Jung Chang. Born in 1952 in Yibin, Sichuan Province, China, Jung Chang grew up during the Cultural Revolution, which deeply impacted her life and the lives of her family members. She attended Sichuan University before moving to the United Kingdom in 1978, where she earned a Ph.D. in linguistics from the University of York, becoming the first person from the People's Republic of China to receive a doctorate from a British university.

Jung Chang's writing career began with the publication of Wild Swans in 1991. The book traces the lives of three generations of women in her family: her grandmother, her mother, and herself. Through their stories, Chang provides a personal account of the tumultuous history of 20th-century China, including the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the rise of the Communist Party, and the Cultural Revolution. Wild Swans received critical acclaim for its compelling narrative and insightful portrayal of Chinese history and has been translated into over 40 languages, selling over 15 million copies worldwide.

Following the success of Wild Swans, Jung Chang continued to write about Chinese history, co-authoring Mao: The Unknown Story with her husband, British historian Jon Halliday, and later publishing Empress Dowager Cixi: The Concubine Who Launched Modern China. Her works have been praised for their detailed research and engaging storytelling, making significant contributions to the understanding of China's past.