Purgatory

Author: Wang Zhongjiang
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2003-10-01
Features: In an era when the "knowledge economy" is no longer a fairy tale, those who have undergone the "baptism of knowledge" and engage in "knowledge-based" work—industrial technicians, political and economic experts, organizers of new culture, practitioners of new legal systems—will no longer constitute a minority among society's members. Gramsci once described this scenario as "everyone is a intellectual." The question is, if "everyone is an intellectual," then the meaning of the term "intellectual" becomes meaningless. Said is dissatisfied with this and insists that intellectuals have always been a small number of "individuals with specific public roles" in society, the "philosopher-kings" described by Bandera as "intellectually outstanding and morally superior," the conscience of humanity, and cannot be reduced to faceless professionals who only do their own job. He says that true intellectuals always criticize corruption with metaphysical passion and selfless principles, resist oppressive authority, and fearlessly pursue justice and truth. (Said, Intellectuals, Sanlian, 2002)
Recently, Professor Wang Zhongjiang published Purgatory: A Biography of Yin Haiguang, truly portraying for us an "intellectual" in Said's sense: Yin Haiguang, a native of Huanggang, Hubei, born into a rural missionary family during the May Fourth Movement, and mentored by Jin Yueling in his studies. In the later stages of the War of Resistance Against Japan, he joined the Youth Army as a graduate student. After demobilization, he went to Chongqing, where he began to gain recognition and was summoned by the "supreme leader" he had long admired. Shortly after the repatriation to Nanjing, he joined Central Daily News as the chief editor. Just before the decisive battle between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, he retreated to Taiwan. Politically, he remained loyal to the Kuomintang government, but ideologically, he grew increasingly dissatisfied with its corrupt atmosphere. He then took a teaching position at Taiwan University while simultaneously engaging in political discourse in the private publication Free China, founded by Hu Shih and Lei Zhen. Under the banner of the May Fourth Movement, he vigorously promoted freedom, democracy, science, and reason, opposing various forms of authoritarianism, obscurantism, and dogmatism, as well as both old and new traditionalism. He took the lead in ideological battles against the authoritarian Kuomintang authorities, becoming a leader of liberalism.
In 1960, Free China was forced to cease publication, and this "son of May Fourth" began to face a series of organized persecutions. Yet he stood firm and unyielding, declaring in the face of the tyranny of secret police: "I, Yin Haiguang, am here!" After enduring countless hardships and trials, he passed away at the age of fifty, weakened by poverty and illness. Purgatory tells the story of such an intellectual. The author originally intended to title the book with the first line of Yang Wanli's poem Guoyuanpu: "Ten thousand mountains refuse one stream to flow, / Blocking its voice day and night in clamor, / When the mountain feet are reached, the stream flows forth, / Majestic water flows out of the village." This line was later changed to "Purgatory," which carries the meaning of the "intellectual" in its essence. Lin Yusheng said that the eternal significance of Yin Haiguang's life struggle lay in his conscience, great courage, and the pursuit of struggle itself. Wang Zhongjiang largely affirms Yin Haiguang along these lines, but his focus is clearly different: while Lin highlights Yin Haiguang's lofty greatness in the sense of "a person," Wang admires his steadfastness in the sense of "an intellectual." "Lofty" is indeed a rare realm, but it is impossible to demand it of ordinary people at any time; "steadfastness," however, should be the duty of intellectuals. If intellectuals fail to uphold their duty, it is a tragic loss and betrayal.
With his unique unorthodox character, Yin Haiguang proved the success of his role as a transcendent intellectual and also demonstrated that even in extremely harsh living conditions, as long as one is willing, intellectuals can still maintain their transcendence. Perhaps the contemporary significance of Purgatory in using Yin Haiguang as an annotation for the term "intellectual" lies in this very point.