Ba Jin's Knowledge and Truth

Author: Peng Xiaohua
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features: He lived to the age of 101, walking through a long century. From publishing his first article publicly in 1921 to continuing to write Reminiscing Zhen Duo in February 1999, his life's writings and translations exceeded 13 million words. The main thread running through them is "enlightenment," "humanity," and "dedication." He was regarded as a "great thinker" and a "social reformer," and his status in 20th-century China was considered comparable to that of Rousseau in 18th-century France or Tolstoy in 19th-century Russia. He had countless tales of exuberance. When the tide of fame and fortune rolled past him, he was busy writing his "confessions," a "book of speaking the truth." He resolved to atone through action, much like Tolstoy in his later years. He was immersed in nightmarish terror, lashing himself with a whip—each stroke leaving a bloody mark for his past selfishness, his lies, and his unjust criticism of good people. He was regarded as the "most suffering elder in contemporary China." He had countless stories of loneliness.