In 1931， Chang began to study in Saint Maria Girls'School， an all-female Christian high school in Shanghai， where she had showed great talent in literature. Although she was admitted by London University later， she failed to go for study because of the intense warfare， so she went to the University of Hong Kong to study literature in1919. The Japanese attack on the city in 1941 forced her to return to occupied Shanghai where she was able to publish the stories and essays that soon made her a literary star. In 1944 Chang married Hu Lancheng， whose infidelities led to their divorce three years later. Chang immigrated to the United States in 1955. She married a the American screenwriter Ferdinand Reyher in 1956 and worked as a screenwriter for a Hong Kong film studio for a number of years， From1969 to 1972， she had a position as a researcher at Berkeley. She moved from New York to Los Angeles in 1972 and became a hermit during her last years. Eileen Chang was found dead in her Los Angeles apartment in September 1995.
1931年，张爱玲到上海圣玛利亚女校就读，期间已显露出极高的文学天赋。张爱玲虽考取了伦敦大学，但因战争无法前往，转而在1939年到香港大学专攻文学，1941年香港遭受日本侵略后被迫回到已被占领的上海。回到上海后她开始靠写作维持生计，发表了一系列故事、散文，很快一颗文坛新星冉冉升起。1944年，张爱玲与胡兰成完婚，而胡兰成的风流本性还是使这段婚姻在三年后告终。张爱玲1955年移居美国。1956年与美国剧作家赖雅结婚。张爱玲一直作为香港一家电影制片厂的编剧，后在加州伯克利大学中国研究中心任职。1972年离职后移居洛杉矶，在人生最后的时光中过着隐居般的生活。1995年9月8日被发现在其洛杉矶寓所内逝世。
She is noted for her fiction writings that deal with the tensions between men and women in love， and her works are considered by some scholars to be among the best Chinese literature of the period. Chang's portrayal of life in 1940s Shanghai and Japanese-occupied Hong Kong is remarkable in its focus on everyday life and the absence of the political subtext which characterised many other writers of the period. A poet and a professor at University of Southern California， Dominic Cheung， said that 'had it not been for the political division between the Nationalist and Communist Chinese， she would have almost certainly won a Nobel Prize'.
张爱玲以其对男女感情中微妙关系的处理而着名，其作品被一些学者认为属于当时中国文学的巅峰之作。张爱玲把创作的焦点放在日常生活之中，与政治性相脱离，极好地描述了20世纪40年代的上海以及日据时期香港的生活面貌。南加州大学教授、诗人多米尼克曾对其评论道：“若不是因为国共两党的政治纷争，几乎可以肯定的是她会获得诺贝尔奖”。
Chang's enormous popularity and famed image were in distinct contrast to her personal life， which was marked by disappointment， tragedy， increasing reclusiveness.
张爱玲赢得了生前身后名，风光之下，她的私人生活却充满了传奇的悲剧色彩，引人扼腕。
核心词汇
1.legendary[?led??nd?ri] adj. 传奇的，传说的
例：Earlier Chinese inventions， knowledge， and culture were all shared with the world via the legendary 'silk road'.早期中国的发明、知识和文化通过传奇的丝绸之路得以为世界所共享。
2.aristocratic [??rist??kr?tik]adj. 贵族的，有贵族气派的
例：Born to royal family， she never put on any aristocratic air.尽管出生于皇室家族，她从不摆出贵族架子。
3.cosmopolitan [?k?zm??p?lit?n] adj. 世界性的n. 四海为家者
例：China is more prosperous and cosmopolitan than at any time in history.中国比历史上任何时候都要繁荣和具有国际性。
4.infidelity[?infi?deliti]n. 不忠；背信；无信仰
例：He has come in for enormous criticism since revelations about his infidelity last year.
自从去年有关其出轨的事件曝光后，他便受到了巨大的非议。
情景对话
A：What book are you reading？
你在读什么书？
B：Love In a Fallen City.《倾城之恋》。
A：Is it written by Eileen Chang？
是张爱玲写的吗？
B：Yes. I like her writing style very much.是的。我很喜欢她的写作风格。
A：What's the story about？
这本书讲的是什么？
B：It tells a winding love story bitween a divorced lady and a rich bachelor through the war time.讲的是战争时期一位离异女性与一个黄金单身汉之间曲折的爱情故事。
A：Sounds interesting. Can I borrow it when you finish reading？
听起来很有意思。你看完后可以借给我看一下吗？
B：No problem. I will contact you then.没问题。看完后联系你。
知识链接
胡兰成
Hu Lancheng (Feb 28， 1906 - July 25， 1981) was a Chinese writer and editor. He was married to the novelist Eileen Chang from 1943 to 1947.During the Second Sino-Japanese War， he collaborated with the Japanese， served briefly in the Propaganda Ministry of the puppet government in China headed by Wang Jingwei in the early 1940s and publishing a literary journal Bitter Bamboo in which Chang published some of her work. Disagreements with colleagues in Nanjing led to his departure for Wuhan， where he continued supporting the regime as the editor of Dachubao until 1945. Many Chinese regard him as a Hanjian or traitor， and it led to intense controversy regarding the value of his works (including those which were non-political).After the war， he fled to Tokyo， Japan. In the early 1970s he taught in the Chinese Culture University in Taiwan for several years， until political pressure forced him to return to Tokyo， where he died in 1981.
胡兰成（1906年2月28日－1981年7月25日），原名胡积蕊，小名蕊生，浙江绍兴人，中国近代作家，为张爱玲第一任丈夫。
胡兰成出生于浙江绍兴嵊县三界镇胡村，在杭州惠兰中学读书，青年时于燕京大学旁听课程，善写作，追随汪精卫，对日抗战时期任汪精卫政权宣传部次长、行政院法制局长，被列为着名汉奸。1943年，胡与上海女作家张爱玲相恋。1944年与张爱玲结婚，1947年离婚。他晚年出版的最后一本书《今生今世》详细的描写了他在爱情与政治上摇摆的个性，人们戏称《今生今世》是一部《群芳谱》。
1945年，日本投降，胡兰成在浙江一带匿名逃亡。1951年，移居东京，之后长期定居日本。
1972年10月，中国文化学院（今中国文化大学）邀请胡兰成至台湾授课。1974年，蒋介石批准申请，胡兰成来到台湾教书。其文学才能影响了部份台湾文人，尤其是朱西宁、朱天文、朱天心父女，受其影响颇深。
在台湾文学界对他的评价也是两极化，有人相当欣赏他的散文风格，有人则对他有相当严厉的评论。在新儒家学者中，他与唐君毅交好，但牟宗三、徐复观等人则极不欣赏他。
1976年，胡兰成离开台湾，再度客居日本。其妻佘爱珍与女儿在东京开酒吧，成为胡兰成主要经济来源。
1979年他的书《禅是一枝花》在台湾由三三出版社出版，书中“郭涣”指朱西宁，“堂妹”指朱天文，将朱天文比喻张爱玲，作者在序言：“小孩儿有时候说谎话，是为了想说更真的话。”。
1981年7月25日因心脏衰竭，死于日本东京。
着作有《中国文学史话》、《今生今世》、《山河岁月》、《禅是一枝花》，其他作品有《革命要诗与学问》、《建国新书》等。