Xia Yan (born
沈乃熙 Shěn Nǎixī) helped found
中国左翼作家联盟 (League of Left-Wing Writers) in 1930s Shanghai. His 1936 reportage 《
包身工》 (Indentured Labor) about female mill workers is required reading in Chinese high schools. He later served as Vice Minister of Culture in the PRC.