Chi Zijian (遲子建) was born on the Lantern Festival (15th day of the first lunar month) in Mohe City of Heilongjiang Province in northeast China. In 1984, she graduated from the Normal School of the Greater Khingan Mountains and was enrolled in the graduate class co-organized by Beijing Normal University and the Lu Xun Literature Institute in 1987. Ever since graduating in 1990, she has been working in the Writers Association of Heilongjiang Provicne.
Chi started writing in 1983 and has published more than 80 books. Her major works include her novels "Puppet Manchukuo," "Sunshine Behind the Clouds," "Last Quarter of the Moon" and "Snow and Raven;" her novel collections "Tales from an Arctic Village," "The Snowy Graveyard," "Travels to White Nights," "Dead Streams," "Washing the Dust Off the Road," "Mist, Moon and Cow Byre" and "All the Nights in the World;" her essay collections "The Beauty of Mourning" and "Snowfall in My World;" the collections of her works "Selection of Chi Zijian’s works" (four volumes), "Selection of Chi Zijian’s Novellas" (five volumes) and "Selection of Chi Zijian’s Short Stories" (four volumes); and the "Best Works of Chi Zijian."
Chi has won many literature awards, including the Lu Xun Literature Prize, the Mao Dun Literature Prize and the Australian Suspense Award. Her works have been published in many foreign languages, including English, French, Japanese, Italian and Korean.