Chen Diexian

Chen Diexian (Chinese: 陈蝶仙, 1879 – 24 March 1940) was a Chinese writer, editor, and industrialist. Born in Hangzhou to a wealthy physician and his concubine, he received a traditional education and passed the imperial examinations in 1893. A writer from a young age, he quit a job as a tea and bamboo trader in 1899 to found a newspaper titled Daguanbao, which published many of his poems and stories. After the paper was banned by the imperial government due to its opposition to the Boxer Rebellion, he established a Hangzhou store selling imported scientific and musical instruments, a printing company, and a short-lived literary journal he titled Zhuzuolin.

In 1913, Chen wrote The Money Demon, an autobiographical novel centered around his romantic experiences. This was serialized in the Shen Bao literary supplement, Ziyoutan. After briefly serving as the editor for the magazines The Pasttime and Woman's World, he was appointed as editor of Ziyoutan in 1916, a position he held for two years before stepping away to focus on his business ventures. Long an amateur chemist, he discovered an inexpensive means to manufacture magnesium carbonate around 1915. Two years later, he founded a company named Household Industries to manufacture toothpowder using an improved version of his method. After dramatic commercial success, he expanded the company into various fields including cosmetics and other household products. By 1934, it was the second-largest cosmetics manufacturer in China. The Japanese invasion in 1937 devastated the company and resulted in the loss of many of its factories, and Chen died of an illness while under Japanese occupation in 1940.