Half a Lifelong Romance (半生緣) is a Chinese novel by Eileen Chang. It was initially serialized in a Shanghai newspaper Yi Bao (亦報) in 1948, under the title Eighteen Springs (十八春). The novel was published as a book in 1950. In 1966, Chang edited the book in the United States and republished it under the title Half a Lifelong Romance in Taiwan.
 cover of 2014 English translation published by Penguin Classics | |||||||
| Author | Eileen Chang | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Original title | 半生緣 | ||||||
| Translator | Karen Kingsbury | ||||||
| Language | Chinese | ||||||
| Set in | 20th-century Shanghai and Nanjing | ||||||
Publication date | 1948 | ||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 半生緣 | ||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 半生缘 | ||||||
| |||||||
| Publication place | China | ||||||
The novel was under the heavy influence of John P. Marquand's work, H. M. Pulham Esq. Chang transplanted and adapted the synopsis, character settings, important scenes, and dialogues from Marquand's work.
The novel was translated into English in 2014 by Karen S. Kingsbury.[1][2]
Adaptations
edit- Eighteen Springs, a 1997 Hong Kong film[3]
- Affair of Half a Lifetime, a 2003 Chinese TV series
- Half a Lifelong Romance (a.k.a. Eighteen Springs), a 2020 Chinese TV series
References
edit- ^ "'Half a Lifelong Romance': a 1930s Shanghai love story". The Seattle Times. 2016-04-10. Retrieved 2023-09-20.
- ^ Sala, Ilaria Maria (2015-01-22). "Eileen Chang's 'Half a Lifelong Romance' Gets an English-Language Translation". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2023-09-20.
- ^ "Half a Lifelong Romance | novel by Zhang Ailing | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2023-09-20.