Ba Jin
25 November 1904 – 17 October 2005
Ba Jin was the pen name of Li Yaotang, a Chinese novelist, essayist and translator born in Chengdu. He became one of the most widely read Chinese writers of the twentieth century with the novel Family and the Torrents trilogy. Persecuted during the Cultural Revolution, he later wrote Random Thoughts, a series of essays reflecting on that period, and chaired the Chinese Writers Association.
Lived at the same time
Well-documented people whose lives overlapped with Ba Jin.
- Hans Bethe (1906–2005) Overlapped 99 years →
- Oscar Niemeyer (1907–2012) Overlapped 98 years →
- Michael E. DeBakey (1908–2008) Overlapped 97 years →
- Estée Lauder (1908–2004) Overlapped 96 years →
- Katharine Hepburn (1907–2003) Overlapped 96 years →
- Habib Bourguiba (1903–2000) Overlapped 96 years →
Life events
He was born Li Yaotang into a large gentry household.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgHe lived and studied in France, where he began writing fiction and adopted the pen name Ba Jin.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgThe novel Miewang appeared in serial form and established his literary reputation.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgJia, the first part of the Torrents trilogy, appeared in book form and became his best-known work.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgHe married Chen Yunzhen, known as Xiao Shan, who had first written to him as a reader.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgHe was denounced, silenced as a writer and sent to labour; his wife died in 1972.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgHe started the essay series Suixiang lu, examining his own conduct and the Cultural Revolution.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgHe was elected to lead the national writers' body, a post he held for the rest of his life.
Source: en.wikipedia.org