Yan Zhen

Yan lives and works in Beijing.

Yan was born in 1930 in Laiyang, Shandong Province, and spent most of his childhood in a small village with his family. His father was a primary school teacher. He left home at thirteen to join the revolutionary forces resisting the Japanese occupation. During the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), Yan was denounced by Red Guards. Both he and his wife were sent to separate parts of the countryside as a result. In 1985, Yan was among the first delegation of Chinese writers to go abroad after the end of the Cultural Revolution, and visited a number of American cities.

Yan published his first volume of poetry at 24. In the early stage of his career he was one of the five "Great Young Poets", lauded as recorders of the social and cultural zeitgeist. He has been described as "one of the most promising poets in the early years of the founding of the People's Republic of China". In 1963-64, he was considered among the most successful young poets in the nation. Notable works include Girl Beside the Huai River (淮河姑娘, 1955), Jiangnan Song (江南曲), Guqin Spring (琴泉), the essay collection Peony Courtyard (zh-Hans), the novel Barren Tracks (荒漠奇踪), and the novella Rose of the Southern Country (zh-Hans).

Yan uses both watercolor and oil. His work has been exhibited in China and internationally, including at the National Art Museum of China. His watercolor Beginning to Snow at Lotus Pond was sold in a 2007 Sotheby's auction in New York. He had his first show in the city in 2008, at the Fuller Building's Neuhoff Gallery.