Bo Yang's Letters

Author: Bei Yang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-01-01
Features: "I want to advise my dear readers on the mainland: when you want to hug your child, hug him. When you want to tell your child you love him, say it. No matter when you do it, it's never too late. Your child will always be a part of your heart. If you don't, you will regret it. I wish you are a happier father than I am and wish your child has more love from you than my child has."--Bei Yang March 7, 1968, Bei Yang was imprisoned, and his daughter Jiajia was only eight years old. Four years later (1972), Jiajia was twelve and began corresponding with her father until 1977, when Bei Yang was released. Under the rule that letters between prisoners and family members could not exceed 200 words, these letters, though often only a few lines long, wove together the deepest love and heart-wrenching longing between father and daughter. On the other hand, they were also filled with anxiety and even resentment. Over the six years of these father-daughter letter exchanges, we have now collected them in this volume, titled "Bei Yang on Fire Island - Letters to His Daughter." During the long 9 years and 26 days of Bei Yang's imprisonment, Jiajia grew from a little girl who waited every week for her father to tell her stories (writing on the ground in his cell) – "The Adventures of Little Cotton" – into a graceful teenager. At 17, for most teenage girls, it's a dazzling and dreamy age full of vitality and energy. Jiajia was no exception, but she had an unspeakable sorrow beyond her peers: her father was imprisoned under false charges, and her mother had divorced him. The family upheaval and wounded self-esteem made her more sensitive than other teenage girls. She was fragile and impulsive, mature yet contradictory. She tried to avoid the dark side of life, but the heavy burden followed her relentlessly. During these difficult years, how would a young Jiajia, whose image of her father – Bei Yang – had already become increasingly blurred and faded, form a mental picture of him? Could Jiajia paint her own picture of him? Could her mother give her daughter a profound and clear image of her father?