Abstract
The paper examines the literary works published in Hong Kong by Tong Zhen (T'ung Chen), a popular and active Taiwan-based novelist in the 1950s. The objectives of this examination are to better discern the active literary intercourse between Taiwan and Hong Kong during the 1950s and 1960s and to study the cross-regional literary meaning of Tong Zhen's works in order to highlight the interplay between the contemporary literary circles of these two areas. Tong Zhen published regularly in Hong Kong-based publications which were financially supported by the U.S. Information Service (USIS). Furthermore, the influence of postwar U.S. aid culture facilitated her relationship with Hong Kong's literary community. As a result, it gave her advantage to create and nourish the special literary bond which existed in the mid-late 20th century between Taiwan and Hong Kong. This paper first examines the literary intercourse between Taiwan and Hong Kong during the 1950s and 1960s against the backdrop of a shared cultural milieu created by the Cold War and U.S. aid culture, and then explains the unique character of Tong Zhen's Hong Kong-published works in the context of the cross-regional intercourse. Finally, the literary relationship and related interactions between Taiwan and Hong Kong during these two decades are investigated in the context of the complicated sociopolitical forces that affected the respective literary outputs of Taiwan and Hong Kong at that time.