Duanmu Hongliang (1912-1996) was one of the most talented writers in the modern period of Chinese literature. His poetry, prose, painting, and calligraphy are all works of art, and each has its unique style. None of his contemporaries can match the brilliance of his descriptions of the vastness and the wild nature of the plains and desert of northern China, as well as the spectacular images of nature in his early literary works. Some of his short stories from the 1940s remain as lasting literary treasures.