On the campus of Peking University, Tian Xiaofei met Zha Haisheng, also known as the poet Haizi, who was admitted to Peking University at the age of 15. At that time, Haizi was teaching in the Philosophy Teaching and Research Section of the Department of Political Science at Renmin University of China. Tian Xiaofei once went to Haizi with poems, and Haizi said: "If you can persevere, you will be a great poet."
In 1989, Tian Xiaofei heard the news that Haizi committed suicide by lying on the train. After that, she I haven’t written poetry for a long time. She couldn't understand why a poet who encouraged her to persevere didn't choose to persevere? At that time, Tian Xiaofei began to think about the value of life. Two years after Haizi's death, 20-year-old Tian Xiaofei went to Harvard University to pursue a doctoral degree in the Department of Comparative Literature. Stephen Irving, chairman of the Department of East Asian Languages ??and Civilizations at Harvard, his Chinese name is Yuwen Suoan. Yuwen Suoan was born in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, and has been fond of poetry since he was a child. He speaks fluent Chinese. His research monographs on Chinese classical literature are mainly Tang poems, and he has more than a dozen English books and Chinese translations. He has obtained the highest level of James Bryant Conand Distinguished Professorship. job title. During Tian Xiaofei's PhD studies, Yuwen Suoan was her supervisor.
Tian Xiaofei graduated. Yuwen Suoan invited Tian Xiaofei to travel to the mountains and expressed his love for her on the way down.
On New Year's Day 1999, they held a romantic wedding in New York State, USA.