Bo Yang's Memoirs: A Person Who Has Returned from Hell

Author: Bei Yang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-08-01
Features: The renowned Taiwanese writer Bei Yang is also celebrated as a master of humanities. He began his literary career under the name Guo Yidong in 1950 and started using the pen name Bei Yang to write essays in 1960, exposing the sickness of Chinese culture and the dark side of Taiwanese society. Known as "a person who has seen hell and returned," Bei Yang attended countless schools throughout his life but never obtained a diploma from elementary to university. He even fabricated a fake diploma for this reason. Throughout his life, he married five wives, and each marriage was accompanied by a chapter of forgotten stories. He didn't know his own birthday, once beat his stepmother, served in the military, and had face-to-face encounters with both the Jiang family. He attempted suicide multiple times and was dismissed from schools and institutions on numerous occasions. He also spent ten years in prison and was nearly executed in the 1970s. This book records a disaster-stricken era, where individual lives were no better than ants. It is also a microcosm of the life experiences of Bei Yang in Chinese society. That is why the living Bei Yang opposed traditional Confucianism, feudal monarchy, and the tyranny of scholar-officials. He supported simplified Chinese characters and was even more in favor of the Romanization of Chinese. He often made astonishing statements, demonstrating his independent thinking and humanistic analysis.