Hell - A Biography of Yin Haiguang

Author: None
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2003-10-01
Features: This book has been made with minimal revisions to "A Stream Forbidden by Mountains—A Biography of Yin Haiguang," supplemented with some historical materials, corrected some errors, and the title has been changed to "Purgatory—A Biography of Yin Haiguang." Yin Haiguang was an unfortunate individual who struggled in an unfortunate era and was persecuted. He was a modern Chinese intellectual devoted to knowledge, reason, morality, and freedom. In this era where 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 economists, organizers of new culture, practitioners of new legal systems—will no longer be a minority among society's members. Gramsci once described this scenario as "everyone is a intellectual." The question is, if "everyone is a intellectual," then the meaning of "intellectual" becomes meaningless. Said is dissatisfied with this and insists that intellectuals are always a small number of "individuals with a specific public role" in society, as described by Bandia as "brilliant and morally upright philosopher-kings" and "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 and Power, Sanlian, 2002) Recently, Professor Wang Zhongjiang's published book, "Purgatory—A Biography of Yin Haiguang," truly portrays for us a "intellectual" in the sense of Said: Yin Haiguang, born in Huanggang, Hubei, in a rural missionary family during the May Fourth Movement, studied under Jin Yueling. In the later stages of the War of Resistance Against Japan, he joined the Youth Army as a graduate student. After discharge, he went to Chongqing, where he began to gain recognition and was summoned by the "highest leader" he had long admired. Shortly after the repatriation to Nanjing, he joined the Central Daily News as a chief editor. Just before the decisive battle between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, he retreated to Taiwan. While still politically loyal to the Kuomintang government, he grew increasingly dissatisfied with its corrupt atmosphere and thus transferred to teaching at Taiwan University, while also engaging in "scholarly politics" 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 engaging in ideological battles with 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 remained resolute and unyielding, standing up to the intimidation of secret police with the words: "I, Yin Haiguang, am here!" After enduring countless hardships and tribulations, 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 "Guiyuan Pu," "Ten thousand mountains refuse one stream to rush forward, blocking its voice day and night, but when the mountain feet are reached, the majestic stream flows out of the village," but changed it to "Purgatory," both of which carry meaning in the context of the "intellectual." Lin Yusheng said that the eternal significance of Yin Haiguang's life struggle lies 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: Lin highlights Yin Haiguang's lofty greatness in the sense of "a person," while Wang praises Yin Haiguang's 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" is, however, 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 proved that even in a very harsh living environment, 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 here.