Zhu Ziqing (1898-1948) was a famous Chinese essayist and poet best known for works Beiying (Retreating Figures) and Huimie (Destruction). 

Zhu entered Peking University in 1916. He then became one of the several pioneers of modernism in China during the May Fourth Movement, a movement growing out of student participants in Beijing on May 4, 1919, protesting against the Chinese government’s weak response to the Treaty of Versailles.

After graduating from the university in 1920, Zhu started his teaching career at various secondary schools in Hangzhou, Yangzhou, Shanghai and Ningbo. During this peirod, he was also active in the literature circle, and became a famous poet and essayist.

He studied English literature and linguistics in London in 1931 and 1932 and continued to teach at Tsinghua University after graduation.

In 1937, when the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression broke out, Zhu followed his university to move to Changsha, Kunming and Chengdu.

He died of gastric perforation resulting from severe stomach ulcers in 1948, at the age of 50.