Published : 2025-01-26

On January 26, 2008, Zhang Hanzhi (章含之), the adopted daughter of the famous Chinse scholar Zhang Shizhao (章士釗), passed away at the age of 73.

Zhang Hanzhi was a renowned diplomat, translator, and writer in China. She is best known for being the English tutor of Chairman Mao Zedong and for her role as a translator during U.S. President Richard Nixon's visit to China in 1972.

Born in Shanghai in 1935, Zhang Hanzhi graduated from the postgraduate class of the English Department of Beijing Foreign Languages Institute in 1960.

In the mid-1970s, Zhang Hanzhi gradually emerged on the diplomatic stage and was hailed as one of the "Five Flowers" in the Chinese diplomatic community, along with Wang Hairong (王海容), Tang Wensheng (唐聞生), Qi Zonghua (齊宗華), and Luo Xu (羅旭).

Zhang Hanzhi held various positions including a teacher in the English Department of Beijing Foreign Studies University, Director and Deputy Director of the Department of Asian Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Executive Director of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, Director of the International Department of the Rural Development Research Centre of the State Council, and Director of the International Cooperation Department of the Development Research Centre of the State Council, as well as senior translator.