Chinese author and scriptwriter Zhang Xiaotian died in Beijing on Tuesday night at age 77.

Born in Heilongjiang Province, Zhang began working for the Changchun Film Studio in 1975. One of the country's most famous historic scriptwriters, he focused on modern history and became known for the films The Birth of New China (1989) and Chongqing Negotiations (1993). Also working as a TV series writer from 2000, he wrote over 600 episodes for TV series such as The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (2000).

As an author, he published over 20 novels including Beside the Yanming Lake and over 110 short stories.

For his work as president of the Jilin Literature and Arts Association and the Jilin Writers Association, he received eight awards from the Jilin provincial government.