Choronology  Echo Chen (1943-91)

1943 26^th  March Echo Chen was born in Sichuan, Chongqing Mainland China.

1946 The Chen family moved to Nanjing.

1948 The Chen family settled in Taiwan.

1956 Drop out of school and studied at home.

1961 Studied drawing and oil painting from Taiwan’s artist ‘Ku Fu Sheng’.

1962 First novel published in December in Contemporary Literature Magazine.

1963 January The Central Daily News published one of her stories. 

1964 Registered at The Cultural College and studied Philosophy.

1967 After Echo broke up with her first love, she went to Spain alone and studied Philosophy in Madrid and met Jose for the first time at Christmas.

1968 She parted from Jose, Echo travelled to Europe visiting Paris, Munich, Amsterdam and Rome.

1969 Studied German in West Berlin.

1970 Started working at the library in the University of Illinois USA.

1971 Moved back to Taiwan and taught German at the Cultural College.

1972 She fell in love with a German she met in Taiwan but her fiancé tragically died the day before the wedding, Echo Chen attempted unsuccessfully to commit suicid. Later the same year in winter Echo decided go back to Spain where she met Jose again.

1974 Married Jose in July at the little town of ‘Laayoune’ in Sahara.

1974 Echo published a short story ‘The restaurant in Sahara’ in the supplement of The Taiwanese United Daily News and used a pen name as ‘San mao’ 

1975 Moroccan forces moved into the  Western Sahara, Echo Chen left the Sahara on 31^st October.

1976 Jose and Echo moved to the Canary Islands and Jose became unemployed

1977 Jose had found work in Nigeria and Echo stayed there with him for several months, they later moved to Tenerife after Jose’s work finished.

1979  March, Echo and Jose were living and working on the Canary Island of La Palma.  Echo’s parents visited them on the island of Gran Canaria but on 30^th September, Jose died in diving accident in La Palma. 

Echo and her parents went back to Taiwan.

1980 Echo began living in Gran Canaria by herself as a widow.

1981 She moved back to Taiwan again and made several public speeches and published her books.

She started her Central and South America trip.

1982 Echo finished of her twelve countries tour of Central and South America 10^th May, she went back to Spain and Gran Canaria in the summer; in October Echo moved once again back to Taiwan and began teaching novel creation and prose study in The Cultural College which was now a University.

1984 Stopped teaching and visited America for health treatment.

1985 Published her books and co-operated and produced an album, Echo went back to America for more health treatment.

1986 Echo joined an English class in Seattle, went back to Taiwan in May and stayed in Gran Canaria in the Summer through to  Autumn. In October, Echo decided to move back to Taiwan for good.

1989 She visited Shanghai, Suzhou, Ningbo, Dinghai, Hangzhou in China for the first time.

Back in Taiwan in June she started writing her first film script ‘Red dust’.

1990 Visited China again. 

On 15th  December the film ‘Red dust’ won eight awards for the Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan although she did not win the best film script award.

1991  3^rd January Echo entered hospital in Taiwan for an operation. On the 4^th of January between one and two o’clock in the morning, Echo Chen was found dead in the bathroom at the hospital.