Ba Jin Dead at 101

Posted on October 18, 2005

Xinhua news agency reports that one of 20th century China's greatest writers, Ba Jin, died Monday in Shanghai. He was 101.

Ba is one of the most revered Chinese authors of the 20th century, standing alongside Lu Xun, Mao Dun and Guo Moruo. He was born into the family of a Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) official in southwest China's Sichuan Province and received a good education from private tutorship. But Ba was a high-spirited youth who rebelled against the bondage of feudal family life.
The May 4 Movement in 1919 filled him with democratic ideals. The Movement was a student revolt against the government following the decision by the Allied powers at Versailles to hand Shandong Province in northeast China to the Japanese. He went to France for studies in 1927 and from there released his first work "Destruction," an expression of his sadness over China's status in the world and his hope for revolution.
He wrote at a furious pace. During the 1929-1937 period, he was so productive that Lu Xun, the father of modern Chinese literature, praised Ba as "a writer with passion and progressive thinking."
His collection of writing includes novels, short stories and essays, totaling more than 6 million words. His famous tomes include the 14-volume "Works of Ba Jin" and the "Select Works of Ba Jin" with the stories "Family," "Spring," "Autumn," "The Trilogy of Love," "A Dream of Sea" and "Autumn in Spring."

The official Chinese news agencies are all running the obituary as a lead story, although the accounts differ as to his age: some newspapers report that he was 102. Chinese scientists named an asteroid after him, and he was also chairman of the Chinese Writers' Association. In 2003, the State Council, China's Cabinet, awarded him the title of "People's Writer". The Guardian describes him as "the Chinese anarchist intellectual" who fought against the corruption that dominated China before the revolution. One thing's for sure: if he's still getting this much coverage in the official Chinese press, he clearly didn't turn his acerbic pen against the leaders of the Communist revolution.