Huang Zi

Also known as Zi Jinwu

Huang Zi, styled Jinwu, was born in Chuansha (now Pudong, Shanghai). He met Western music at Tsinghua School from 1916, studied psychology at Oberlin College from 1924, and moved to Yale in 1928 for theory and composition, graduating the next year. Back in Shanghai he taught at Hujiang University and from 1930 was professor of theory and composition and dean of studies at the National Conservatory, teaching harmony, counterpoint and music history. His works include the orchestral overture In Memoriam, the art songs Three Wishes of the Rose, Spring Thoughts and Homesickness, and the cantata Song of Everlasting Sorrow. He died of typhoid in Shanghai in May 1938, aged thirty-four.