Selected Works of Ba Jin - Volume 3: Autumn

Author: Ba Jin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-04-01
Features: Ba Jin's original name was Li Yaotang, styled Fugan. He was born in 1904 in Chengdu, Sichuan, and is a renowned modern writer. He grew up in a family of officials and landlords, witnessing various ugly social phenomena. The May Fourth Movement opened his eyes and instilled in him a belief in opposing the feudal system and pursuing new social ideals. In 1927, he went to France to study and wrote the long novel The Death of a Dream the following year. In late 1928, he returned to China. After 1931, he actively participated in the anti-Japanese resistance movement and maintained close ties with Lu Xun. Lu Xun considered Ba Jin to be "a passionate and progressive writer, one of the few outstanding writers of his time." He is currently the president of the Chinese Writers' Association. Most of his major works were written in the two decades following 1927. These include the long novels The Triad of Love (Fog, Rain, Light), The Triad of the River (Family, Spring, Autumn), and The Triad of War (also known as Fire), as well as the middle novels A Cold Night and The Garden, along with a number of short stories, fairy tales, and essays. The Triad of the River is set in the early 1920s in Chengdu, Sichuan, after the May Fourth Movement, and depicts the historical collapse of a feudal family (the Gao family) during a new revolutionary period. The work unfolds the entire life of a feudal official family, mercilessly exposing the corruption, decadence, and hypocrisy of the feudal landlord class and the cruelty of feudal rituals. The author portrays the images of feudal family women like Mei, Hui, and Ruijue, whose suffering and tragic deaths serve as a blood against feudal marriage systems and old rituals. The deaths of "servants" like Mingfeng and Qian'er further reveal the social reality of class discrimination and oppression. The work does not stop at exposing the evils of this "family" or revealing its inevitable collapse but further depicts the awakened and rebellious generation, represented by Juehui. It reflects the characteristics of the May Fourth era from one perspective and "proclaims the death sentence of an unreasonable system." A major feature of Ba Jin's works is that they are born from emotion. This is very similar to Cao Xueqin. Additionally, Ba Jin excels at constructing grand narratives, skillfully organizing numerous characters and complex events. The plot is full of twists and turns, progressing layer by layer, drawing closer to the climax. The author is also adept at portraying the psychological activities of characters, analyzing their souls, giving depth and a three-dimensional quality to his portrayals.