Born in Shanghai, China, she was originally named Zhang Ying (??). She was the first of two children to Zhang Zhiyin (???) (1896—1953) and Huang Suqin (???) (1893—1957). Her paternal grandfather, Zhang Peilun (???), was son-in-law to Li Hongzhang, an influential Qing court official, who married Chang's paternal grandmother, Li Juyu (???) (1866—1916). Her maternal grandfather, Huang Yisheng (???), was a prominent naval commander. Her childhood had also been shared with paternal aunt Zhang Maoyuan (???) (1898—1991).

The family first relocated to Tianjin in 1922 when Chang was 2 years old, but in 1923, her mother left for the United Kingdom after her father took in a concubine and later became addicted to opium. Their marriage had been arranged, and despite having bound feet, her mother managed to ski in the Swiss Alps. She returned in 1927, as her husband had promised to end the turmoil with drug usage and his personal affairs, and the family settled back to Shanghai in 1928. Her parents divorced in 1930, and she and her younger brother Zhang Zijing (???) (1921—1997) were raised by their father.

Upon graduation from high school, Chang had a fight with her stepmother and father. Eventually, she contracted dysentery. Instead of receiving treatment, her father beat her and forced her to stay in her bedroom for six months. Chang ran away to live with her mother shortly after her 18th birthday, where they remained in a new apartment for nearly two years, until she began to attend university and briefly lived in Hong Kong.

Education

Chang started school at age 4. Although she says her family was not religious, she attended a Christian high school, Saint Maria Girls' School, where she learned to speak both Chinese and English, graduating in 1937.

In 1939, Chang was to attend the University of London on a full scholarship, but never did due to the ongoing Second Sino-Japanese War. Instead, she studied English Literature at the University of Hong Kong, where she met her life-long friend, Fatima Mohideen (??) (died 1995). When Chang was one semester short of earning her degree, Hong Kong fell to the Empire of Japan in December 1941 and Chang made the decision to return to China. Her original plan was to finish her bachelor's degree at Saint John's University, but she chose to drop out after several weeks due to financial issues.

Early work

At the age of 10, Chang's mother renamed her Ailing, a transliteration of Eileen, in preparation for her entrance into an English school. While in high school, Chang read Dream of the Red Chamber, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature, which would influence her work throughout her career. Chang already displayed great literary talent and her writings were published in the school magazine. The following year, she wrote her debut short novel at the age of 12.

In 1943, Chang was introduced to a famous editor, Shoujuan Zhou (???), and gave him a few pieces of her writing. With Zhou's backing, Chang soon became the most popular new writer in Shanghai. Within the next two years, she wrote some of her most acclaimed works, including Qing Cheng Zhi Lian (????) and Jin Suo Ji (???). Her literary maturity was said to be beyond her age.

Other activities

In 1952, Chang migrated back to Hong Kong, where she worked as a translator for the United States Information Service for three years. She then left for the United States in 1955, never to return to mainland China again.

Chang relocated to Los Angeles, California in 1972. In 1975, she completed the English translation of The Sing-song Girls of Shanghai (?????, literally Biographies of Flowers Beside the Sea), a celebrated Qing novel in the Wu dialect by Han Bangqing (???, 1856—1894). Among her papers at the University of Southern California, the manuscript for the translated English version was found after her death and published.

Chang met her first husband Hu Lancheng (???) in 1943, when she was 23 and he was 37. They were married the following year in a private ceremony. Fatima Mohideen was the sole attendee. In the few months that he courted Chang, Hu was still married to his third wife. Despite Hu being labelled a traitor for collaborating with the Japanese during the ongoing World War II, Chang continued to remain loyal to Hu.

Shortly thereafter, Hu chose to move to Wuhan to work for a newspaper. While staying at a local hospital, he seduced a 17-year-old nurse, Zhou Xunde (???), who soon moved in with him. When Japan was defeated in 1945, Hu used another identity and hid in the neighboring Wenzhou, where he remarried to Fan Xiumei (???). Chang and Hu divorced in 1947.

While in MacDowell Colony, New Hampshire, Chang met her second husband, the American screenwriter Ferdinand Reyher. While they were briefly apart in New York (Chang in New York City, Reyher in Saratoga), Chang wrote to Reyher that she was pregnant with his child. Reyher wrote back to propose. Although Chang did not receive the letter, she telephoned the following morning to inform Reyher she was arriving in Saratoga. Reyher had a chance to propose to her in person, but insisted that he did not want the child. Chang suffered a miscarriage shortly thereafter. The couple married on August 14, 1956.

After the wedding, they stayed in New York City until 1956, when the couple moved back to New Hampshire. Chang became a US citizen in 1960 and briefly headed to Taiwan for more opportunities, returning to the US in 1962. After suffering a series of strokes, Reyher eventually became paralyzed before his death on October 8, 1967. That same year, Chang held a short-term job at Radcliffe College and would later transfer to UC Berkeley in 1969 before leaving the university in 1972.

On September 8, 1995, Chang was found dead in her apartment on Rochester Avenue in Westwood, California by her landlord. That she was found days after her death testifies to her seclusion. Her death certificate states that she died from cardiovascular disease. According to Chang's will, she was cremated without any memorial services and her ashes were released into the Pacific Ocean.

She willed all her possessions to Stephen Soong (??) and his wife Mae Fong Soong (???) in Hong Kong, but they later died. Their daughter Elaine and son Roland inherited the estate of Chang's works. Roland, who writes the influential EastSouthWestNorth blog in Hong Kong, has spoken about her works.

Chang's brother, Zijing, died in 1997. Neither he nor his sister had any children, and the family has no descendants.

Chang wrote several film scripts. Some of her works have been filmed and shown on the silver screen as well.

The following are the scripts that Eileen Chang wrote as a screenwriter:

• Bu Liao Qing (1947) (???, modified from novel ???, published as movie script)
• Tai Tai Wan Sui (1947) (????)
• Ai Le Zhong Nian (1949) (????)
• Jin Suo Ji (1950) (???, The Golden Cangue)
• Qing Chang Ru Zhan Chang (1957) (?????, The Battle Of Love, script written in 1956)
• Ren Cai Liang De (unknown) (????, script written in 1956)
• Tao hua yun (1959) (???, The Wayward Husband, script written in 1956)
• Liu yue xin niang (1960) (????, The June Bride)
• Wen Rou Xiang (1960) (???)
• Nan Bei Yi Jia Qin (1962) (?????)
• Xiao er nu (1963) (???, Father takes a Bride)
• Nan Bei Xi Xiang Feng (1964) (?????)
• Yi qu nan wang (1964) (????, a.k.a. ?????)

The following are films adapted from Eileen Chang's novels:

• Qing Cheng Zhi Lian (1984) (????, Love in a Fallen City)
• Yuan Nu (1988) (??)
• Hong Meigui Yu Bai Meigui (1994) (???????, The Red Rose and the White Rose)
• Ban Sheng Yuan (1997) (???, Eighteen Springs)
• Lust, Caution (2007) (???)