Ba Jin

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Ba Jin in 1938

Li Yaotang (Chinese: 李尧棠, Zi: 芾甘, Feigan) (November 25, 1904 – October 17, 2005) is considered to be one of the most important and widely read Chinese writers of the twentieth century. He wrote under the pen name of Ba Jin (巴金, also Pa Chin), taking his pseudonym from Russian anarchists Bakunin and Kropotkin. Ba Jin started composing his first works in the late 1920s.

Born in Chengdu, Sichuan, Li was born into a scholar-official family where his paternal grandfather ruled with an iron hand. In 1920 he enrolled in the Chengdu Foreign Language Specialist School. Three years later, Li moved to Shanghai and then to Nanjing on the pretext of study to escape the feudalistic influence of his family. In 1927 he travelled to France for studies, where he first used the pen-name Ba Jin. While there he began writing his first novel, Miewang (“Destruction”). On his return to Shanghai in 1928, Li continued writing and working on translations. During the next 10 years, Li acted as editor to several important publishing firms and periodicals, as well as composing the works which he is best known for – The Family (1933), The Love Trilogy Fog (1931), Rain (1933) and Lightning (1935), the novellas Autumn in Spring and A Dream of the Sea, the short story collection Mengya (“Germination”) and prose writings in Fuchou ("Vengeance") and Shen, Gui, Ren ("Gods, Ghosts and Men").

During the Second Sino-Japanese War (World War II), Li was actively involved in propaganda work against the Japanese invasion, working on the publication Nahan (“Outcries”, later renamed Fenghuo, “Beacons”) with Mao Dun. In the later stages of the war, Li completed the famous Torrents Trilogy — of which The Family (1933) was the first written, followed by Spring (1938) and Autumn (1940). Other works of the post-war period, like the short novels A Garden of Repose (1944), Ward No 4 (1946) and Cold Nights (1947), contain some of his strongest writings.

Ba Jin

During the Cultural Revolution, Li was heavily persecuted as a counter-revolutionary. He was rehabilitated in 1977, after which he was elected to many important national literary posts, including chairman of the Chinese Writers' Association (since 1983). The most significant work of his later years is probably the discursive writings in Suixiang Lu (translated as "Random Thoughts", composed between 1978 and 1986), in which, among other things, he reflected on the Cultural Revolution in a painfully honest manner and asked specifically for a Cultural Revolution Museum to be set up as a deterrent for future generations.

He spoke and advocated Esperanto and in the 1980s was the vice-president of the Chinese Esperanto League.

Ba Jin’s works were heavily influenced by foreign writers, including Emile Zola, Ivan Turgenev, Alexandr Herzen and Anton Chekhov, and a substantial amount of his collected works are devoted to translations. Ba Jin suffered from Parkinson's Disease since 1983, an ailment which almost completely debilitated him and confined him to a hospital unable to speak and walk toward the last few years of his life. Ba Jin died of cancer in Shanghai at the age of 100 (101 by Chinese reckoning). His passing marked the end of an era for Chinese literature, especially since he was the last major writer to live through the May Fourth Movement.

Asteroid 8315 Bajin is named in his honour.

1 Bibliography
2 Works
3 See also
4 References
5 External link

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Bibliography

Translated into English:

(1959) A battle for life: a full record of how the life of steel worker, Chiu Tsai-kang, was saved in the Shanghai Kwangrze Hospital. Beijing: Foreign Language Press.
(1978) The Family. [trans. Sidney Shapiro; ill. Liu Tan-Chai] Beijing: Foreign Language Press.
(1978) Cold Nights [trans. Nathan K. Mao] Hong Kong: Chinese University press.
(1984) Random Thoughts [trans. Germie Barm&ecute;] Hong Kong: Joint Publishing Company. (Partial translation of Suizianglu)
(1988) Selected works of Ba Jin [trans. Jock Hoe] Beijing: Foreign Language Press.
(1954) Living Amongst Heroes Beijing: Foreign Language Press.

Ba Jin Stories in Collections

Arzybasheff, M.(1927). "Morning Shadows?" in Tales of the Revolution. Tr. Percy Pinkerton. New York Huebsch.
(1927)."Workingman Shevyrev." in Tales of the Revolution, tr. Percy Pinkerton. New York: Huebsch.

About Ba Jin

Ayers, W. (1950). "Shanghai Labor and the May Thirtieth Movement," Papers on China, 5:1-38. Harvard University, East Asian Research Center.
Bao-Puo. (1925). "The Anarchist Movement in China: From a Letter of a Chinese Comrade." Tr. from the Russian, in Freedom. 39.423:4.
(1953). "The Society for Literary Studies, 1921-1930." Papers on China. 7:34-79. Harvard University, East Asian Research Center.
Chen Tan-chen. (1963). "Pa Chin the Novelist: An Interview." Chinese Literature. 6:84-92.
Ch'en Chia-ai character. "Chung-kuo li-shih shang chih an-na-ch'i-chu -i che character (Anarchists in Chinese history); in K'o-lu-p'ao-t'e-chin hsueh-shuo kai-yao. pp. 379-410.
Hsin ch'ing-nien (1908). "Chinese Anarchist in Tokyo," Freedom, 22.23:52.
Lang, Olga, (1967). Pa Chin and His Writings: Chinese Youth Between the Two Revolutions. Harvard University Press.
Martin, H. and J. Kinkley, eds. (1992) Modern Chinese writers: self-portrayals. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe.
Renditions Autumn 1992. No. 38. "Special issue on Twentieth Century Memoirs. Reminiscences by well-known literary figures, including Zhu Ziqing, Ba Jin, Lao She and Wang Xiyan."

Films

Return from Silence: Five prominent and controversial Chinese writers speak on their roles in the modernization of China. (1 hour video cassette available) - The life and work of five esteemed Chinese writers whose modern classics shaped China's past: Ba Jin, Mao Dun, Ding Ling, Cao Yu, and Ai Qing. Produced by Chung-wen Shih, George Washington University. 1982.

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Works

Short Story Collections:

Vengeance 《复仇》，1931
Brightness 《光明》，1932
The Electric Chair 《电椅》, 1933
Wiping Cloth 《抹布》，1933
The General 《将军》，1934
Gods, Ghosts and Men 《神·鬼·人》，1935
Sinking 《沉落》，1936
The Story of Hair 《发的故事》，1936
Thunder 《雷》，1937
Resurrection Grass 《还魂草》，1942
Little People, Little Events 《小人小事》，1943
Heroic Tales 《英雄的故事》，1953
Pigs and Chickens 《猪与鸡》，1959
Li Da-hai 《李大海》，1961
Stories Outside the City，1992

Children's literature:

The Immortality Pagoda 《长生塔》，1937
The Pearl and the Jade Concubine 《明珠和玉姬》，1957

Novels and Novellas:

Destruction 《灭亡》, 1929
The Dead Sun 《死去的太阳》, 1931
The "Love" Trilogy 《爱情的三部曲》 (1931-5)
- Fog 《雾》, 1931
- Rain 《雨》，1933
- Lightning 《电》，1935
Miners 《砂丁》，1933
Germination 《萌芽》，1933
A Dream of the Sea 《海的梦》，1932
Autumn in Spring 《春天里的秋天》，1932
The "Torrents" Trilogy 《激流三部曲》
- The Family 《家》，1933
- Spring 《春》，1938
- Autumn 《秋》，194O
Lina 《利娜》，1940
Fires 《火》(in three volumes)，1940—1945
Stars 《星》(English-Chinese bilingual)，1941
A Garden of Repose 《憩园》，1944
Ward No 4 《第四病室》，novella, 1946
Cold Nights 《寒夜》，1947