A former public school teacher, she wrote poems about animals and children, which are often included in commentary on David and Goliath’s wealth disparity and power dynamics. In one, “Butterflies Are Gentle Things,” callous butterflies fly free as kangaroos are weighed down by worries and preoccupations that accumulate in their pockets. In another, “The Butterfly and the Crocodile,” a butterfly defeats a crocodile by blinding it with “soft, scented pollen.”
“She is like a butterfly,” said Jennifer Feeley, who has translated several of Xi Xi’s works, including the poetry collections “Unwritten” (2016) and “Animal Festival” (2022), said. : “She is like a butterfly. “She is really good at showing that the things that people might overlook — seeming so soft, sometimes feminine, tender and whimsical — are actually very important and powerful.”
Xi Xi was born Cheung Yin in Shanghai in 1937 to parents of Cantonese descent. Her father, Cheung Lok, is a secretary at a British shipping company, Butterfield & Swire, and her mother, Luk Wah Chun, takes care of the couple’s five children and their elderly parents.
Xi Xi is survived by two brothers, David Cheung Yung and Cheung Yiu.
In 1950, the family moved to Hong Kong, where Mr. Cheung found a job as a bus inspector. Money is scarce, and Cheung Yin is always two days late in paying his monthly tuition. While still a student, she began selling poetry and essays to newspapers to earn pocket money.
She trained as a teacher at Grantham Teachers College, now part of the Hong Kong College of Education, from 1957 to 1960, and later taught Chinese, English and math in primary schools. for more than two decades.
She wrote profusely and profusely while teaching. She has published hundreds of film reviews under various pseudonyms and, using the pseudonym Hai Lan, writes scripts for Hong Kong’s Shaw Brothers studio, including 1967 adaptation of “Little Women”.
