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Bo Yang

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For other uses, seeBo Yang (disambiguation).
Guo Dingsheng
Quách định sinh
BornGuo Dingsheng
(1920-03-07)7 March 1920
Kaifeng,Henan,Republic of China
Died29 April 2008(2008-04-29)(aged 88)
Xindian,Taipei County(nowXindian DistrictofNew Taipei City),Republic of China
Pen nameBoyang
OccupationHistorian, novelist, philosopher, poet
LanguageChinese
CitizenshipRepublic of China
Alma materNortheastern University
Period1950–2008

Bo Yang(simplified Chinese:Bách dương;traditional Chinese:Bách dương;pinyin:Bó Yáng;[note 1]7 March 1920 – 29 April 2008[3]), sometimes also erroneously calledBai Yang,was aChinesehistorian, novelist, philosopher, poet based in Taiwan.[4]He is also regarded as a social critic.[5]His best-known work isThe Ugly Chinaman,a controversial book that was banned in mainland China; in it he harshly criticized Chinese culture and thenational characterof Chinese people.[6]According to his own memoir, the exact date of his birthday was unknown even to himself. He later adopted 7 March, the date of his 1968 imprisonment, as his birthday.

Biography

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Boyang was born asGuō Dìngshēng(Quách định sinh) inKaifeng,HenanProvince, China, with family origins inHuixian.[7]Boyang's father changed his son's name toGuō Lìbāng(Quách lập bang) to facilitate a transfer to another school. Bo Yang later changed his name toGuo Yìdòng,also spelledKuo I-tung(Quách y động). In high school, Boyang participated in youth organisations of theKuomintang,the then-ruling party of theRepublic of China,and joined the Kuomintang itself in 1938. He graduated from theNational Northeastern University,and moved to Taiwan after the Kuomintang lost the civil war in 1949.[8]

In 1950, he was imprisoned for six months for listening toCommunist Chineseradio broadcasts. He had various jobs during his life, including that of a teacher. During this time, he began to write novels. In 1960, he began using the pen name Boyang when he started to write a political commentary column in theIndependent Evening News.The name was derived from a place name in the mountains of Taiwan; he adopted it because he liked the sound of it. In 1961, he achieved acclaim with his novelThe Alien Realm(Dị vựcYìyù), which told the story of a Kuomintang force which fought on in the borderlands of southwestern China long after the government had retreated toTaiwan.He became director of the Pingyuan Publishing House in 1966, and also edited the cartoon page ofChina Daily(Trung Hoa nhật báo).[4]

Boyang was arrested again in 1967 because of his sarcastic "unwitting" criticism of Taiwan's dictatorChiang Kai-shekand in particular a translation of a comic strip of Popeye.[9]In the strip,PopeyeandSwee'Peahave just landed on an uninhabited island. Popeye says: "You can be crown prince," to which Swee'Pea responds, "I want to be president." In the next panel, Popeye says, "Why, you little..." In the final panel, Popeye's words are too faint to be made out. Chiang was displeased because he saw this as a parody of his arrival (with a defeated army) in Taiwan, his brutal usurpation of the presidency (a KMT competitor favored as head of government by the Truman administration was executed) and his strategy of slowly installing his sonChiang Ching-kuoas heir apparent. Boyang translated the word "fellows" as "my fellow soldiers and countrymen," a phrase used by Chiang Kai-shek.[10]Having detained Bo Yang, the KMT's "military interrogators told him that he could be beaten to death at any time the authorities desired" when the writer refused to swallow their trumped-up charges.[11]"Several interrogators" including Liu Chan-hua and Kao Yi-rue "played cat and mouse with him, alternating promise of immediate release with threats" and torture.[12]In order to make him confess, they broke his leg.[13]Western allies of the regime were not unaware of this.[note 2]Shelley Rigger says that "Peng Ming-min, Bo Yang and Lei Chen" were "high-profile White Terror cases" in the 1960s but in fact, many "(t)housands of Taiwanese and Mainlanders were swept up by the White Terror, suffering imprisonment, torture, (…) execution."[note 3]The prosecutor initially sought the death sentence but due to US pressure this was reduced to twelve years in the Green Island concentration camp. From 1969 Bo Yang was incarcerated as apolitical prisoner(for "being a Communist agent and attacking national leaders" ) onGreen Islandfor nine years. The original 12-year sentence was commuted to eight years after the death of Chiang Kai-shek in 1975. However, the government refused to release Bo Yang after his sentence expired, and released him only in 1977, giving in to pressure from international organizations such asAmnesty International.After his release, Bo Yang continued to campaign for human rights and democracy in Taiwan. Towards the end of his life Bo Yang stated in his memoirs that he did not have the slightest intention to insult Chiang Kai-shek with hisPopeyetranslation. This was due to the fact that in his view objective criticism mattered whereas personal insults were irrelevant.[16]

Works

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Lin Zi-yao notes that during his life "Bo Yang covered a wide range of subjects from culture, literature, politics and education to love, marriage, family planning, fashion and women."[17]Much of this is not fiction, although he also published a significant body of short stories, novels, and poetry. Howard Goldblatt says that "it is significant" that an anthology of his short stories entitledSecretsin English was "published in Chinese under the author's true name Kuo I-tung, for 'Bo Yang' is not essentially a writer of fiction." Goldblatt adds, "Yet like 'Bo Yang' [the writer of essays], Kuo I-tung [the novelist and short story writer] is a social critic; his fiction is written with an eye to the recording of events and to the social inequities that gave rise to them."[18]

Aside from hisGolden TrianglenovelYiyu,(Dị vực,1961), Boyang is best known for his non-fiction works on Chinese history (collated and translated into modern colloquial Chinese from historical records in the prison library on Green Island) andThe Ugly Chinaman(Xấu xí người Trung QuốcChǒulòu de Zhōngguórén,1985; English translation, with the subtitle... and the Crisis of Chinese Culture,1992). In the introduction to excerpts fromThe Ugly Chinaman,the editors of an anthology entitledSources of Chinese Tradition from 1600 through the Twentieth Centurystate that "(t)he sharply negative tone of the (…) essay reflects a sense of (…) despair (…) as well as a feeling that age-old weaknesses have persisted through revolutionary change."[19]Also referring toThe Ugly Chinaman,Rana Mitter says that Bo Yang's position as a critical observer and analyst of the world is similar toLu Xun's. Both were skeptical, yet committed writers and less naive than younger 'romanticists'.

Lu Xun regarded his mission as being to try and wake up a few of the sleepers in an 'iron house' in which they were burning to death, and from which there was still no guarantee to escape. The message mixed bleakness with hope, with perhaps more emphasis on bleakness. In contrast, the impatience of the romanticists was for a better world which they felt they could almost touch; they just had to motivate the nation and the people to reach it. A similar division can be seen in the treatment of modern China in (…) more contemporary works. Bo Yang's account of the Chinese people is dark and suggests that a long, painful process will be necessary before China will be saved. (…) Bo Yang (like Lu Xun) made his criticism while declining to join a political party. Again, like Lu Xun, Bo Yang was of an older generation when his essay [The Ugly Chinaman] was finally published (65 years old)...[20]

Edward M. Gunn agrees, saying that "(t)he fact that Bo Yang is a prolific author of satirical essays (zawen) inevitably recalls the work of Lu Xun."[21]Gunn also emphasizes Bo Yang's "particular interest in history" and the "acerbic wit in defense of democracy and social welfare" (or social rights of the common people).[22][note 4]

Bo Yang gained attention internationally when a volume of poetry entitledPoems of a Periodwas published in Hong Kong in 1986. These poems recall his arrest and imprisonment.

Later years

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Bo Yang lived inTaipeiin his later years. He became the founding president of the Taiwan chapter ofAmnesty International.In 1994, Boyang underwent heart surgery, and his health never fully recovered. He carried the honorary title of national policy advisor to the administration of PresidentChen Shui-bian.In 2006, Boyang retired from writing, and donated the bulk of his manuscripts to the Chinese Modern Literature Museum inBeijing.He was awarded an honorary doctorate by theNational Tainan University,to which he also donated many memorabilia and some manuscripts.

Boyang died ofpneumoniain a hospital near hisXindianresidence on 29 April 2008.[3]He was married five times, and is survived by his last wife, Chang Hsiang-hua, and five children born by his former wives. On 17 May 2008, his ashes were scattered along the seashore of Green Island, where he was once imprisoned.

Literature (a selection)

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Bo Yang MuseuminTainan,Taiwan.

Essays and historical research by Bo Yang

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  • Bo, YangBách dương(2009).Choulou de zhongguorenXấu xí người Trung Quốc[The Ugly Chinaman]. Taipei: Yuanliu chubanXa chảy ra bản.
  • Bo, YangBách dương(2002).Zhongguo ren shi gangNgười Trung Quốc sử cương[History of the Chinese People]. Taipei: Yuanliu chubanXa chảy ra bản.
  • Bo, YangBách dương(1998).Bo Yang yue: du tong gian. lun li shiBách dương rằng: Đọc thông giam. Luận lịch sử[Bo Yang about reading chronicles. Reflections on History]. Taipei: YuanliuXa lưu.
  • Bo, YangBách dương(1994).Zhong guo ren, ni shou le sheng me zu zhou!Người Trung Quốc, ngươi bị cái gì nguyền rủa![Chinese people, what curse fell on you?]. Taipei: XingguangTinh quangStarlight.
  • Bo, YangBách dương(1994).Zhongguo lishi nian biaoTrung Quốc lịch sử niên biểu[Chronology of Chinese History]. Taipei: Yuesheng wenhua chuban: San you zong jing xiaoNhảy thăng văn hóa xuất bản: Tam hữu tổng bán ra.
  • Bo, YangBách dương(1992).The Ugly Chinaman and the Crisis of Chinese Culture.Translated by Cohn, Don J.; Qing, Jing. North Sydney: Allen and Unwin.
  • Bo, YangBách dương(1992). "The Chinese Cursed". In Barmé, Geremie (ed.).New Ghosts, Old Dreams. Chinese Rebel Voices.New York: Times Books. pp. 210–215.
  • Bo, YangBách dương(1989).Da nanren sha wen zhuyiĐại nam nhân chủ nghĩa sô-vanh[On Male Chauvinism]. Taipei: Yue sheng chu banNhảy thăng xuất bản) and Chungho, Taipei Hsien (San you zong jing xiaoTam hữu tổng bán ra.
  • Bo, YangBách dương(1987).Shui zai shuo zhen hua: yi jiu ba liu Taiwan xian shi pipanAi đang nói nói thật: 1986 Đài Loan hiện thực phê phán[Who is telling the truth: one thousand nine hundred eighty-six realistic criticisms of Taiwan].Kaohsiung:Dun li chu ban sheĐôn lý nhà xuất bản.

Prose fiction and poetry by Bo Yang

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  • Bo, YangBách dương(1996).The alien realm.London: Janus.– Fiction.
  • Bo, YangBách dương(1988).A farewell: a collection of short stories. Transl. by Robert Reynolds.Hong Kong: Joint Pub. (H.K.).
  • Bo, YangBách dương(1988).Bo Yang xiaoshuo xuanduBách dương tiểu thuyết tuyển đọc[Bo Yang: Selected Prose]. Taipei: HuangguanVương miện.– Fiction.
  • Bo, YangBách dương(1987).Wang le ta shi sheiĐã quên hắn là ai[I forgot who he is]. Taipei: Lin baiLâm bạch.
  • Bo, YangBách dương(1986).Poems of A Period.Hong Kong: Joint Publishing.
  • Bo, YangBách dương(1979).Bo Yang xiaoshuo xuan jiBách dương tiểu thuyết tuyển tập[Bo Yang, Selected Works: Prose]. Hong Kong: Zongheng chubansheTung hoành nhà xuất bảnAspect Press.– Fiction.

on Bo Yang

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  • Zhang, QingrongTrương thanh vinh(2007).Bách dương cùng ngục giam văn học[Bo Yang and prison literature].Bách dương học thuật quốc tế hội thảo(Bo Yang International Academic Symposium). Tainan: Tainan University (published 2008).
  • Li, HuorenLê sống nhân(2000).Bo Yang de sixiang yu wenxueBách dương tư tưởng cùng văn học[The thought & literary works of Bo Yang]. Taipei: Yuanliu chubanshi ye gongsi.
  • Mitter, Rana (2005) [2004].A Bitter Revolution: China's Struggle with the Modern World.Oxford UK; New York NY: Oxford University Press. p. 270.ISBN978-0-19-280605-5.
  • Wang, Xiaolu (2005). "Bo Yang". In Davis, Edward L. (ed.).Encyclopedia of Contemporary Chinese Culture.Abingdon UK: Routledge. p. 62.ISBN0-415-24129-4.
  • Ritter, Jurgen (1987).Kulturkritik in Taiwan: Po Yang [Bo Yang].Bochum: Brockmeyer.
  • editorial board, ed. (1984).Bo Yang 65: yi ge zao qi de chong erBách dương 65: Một cái dậy sớm trùng nhi[Bo Yang, 65: An Early Riser]. Taipei: Xingguang deng chuban: Wu shi tu shu zong jing xiaoTinh quang chờ xuất bản: Ngô thị sách báo tổng bán ra.

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^The characterBáchis traditionally pronounced "Bó," and Bo Yang himself pronounced it as Bó. InModern Standard Chinese(mainland Chinese), some authorities favour the view that it is pronounced as "Bó" except when used to mean "cypresstree, "when it is pronounced" Bǎi "[1]while other authorities favour the view thatBáchis pronounced as "Bǎi" when used as a surname.[2]Bo Yang himself always pronounced it as "Bo".
  2. ^Chiang Wei-kuoTưởng Vĩ Quốc,a son of the dictator in charge of theMilitary Garrison Command,had been attending an equivalent of West Point in Germany during theThird Reichperiod and the BND, a West German secret service, commanded by a high-ranking former Nazi secret service man, Mr. Gehlen, always had close relations with its counterpart in Taiwan, according to a press notice by the West German newspaperFrankfurter Rundschau.The same was obviously true of the American counterpart. In the late 1940s, the US vice consul in Taipei,George H. Kerr,who later expressed regrets, was also fully aware of the massacres carried out by the KMT regime, estimating that about 10,000 of the demonstrators protesting against corruption, harassment and unrestrained violence of the police on Feb. 28, 1947 were killed on that day and in the next few days, and another 10,000 in the immediate aftermath of the crackdown.[14]
  3. ^Prof.Peng Ming-min,whose father had been executed by the regime in the context of theFebruary 28 Incident,became a victim in 1964 because he and his colleagues at Taida wrote a manifesto calling for reforms.[15]
  4. ^Considering the fact thatLu Xun's writing were described as subversive and remained inaccessible to almost every citizen in Taiwan due to the ban on printing or possessing them, it is obvious that Bo Yang'sLu Xun'esquewit had to cause trouble for him under dictators likeChiang Kai-shekand his son,Chiang Ching-kuo.

References

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  1. ^Bách.Thực dụng chữ Hán từ điển[Practical Chinese Character Dictionary]. Shanghai Literary Press. 1985.;Bách.Từ hải[Cihai]. Shanghai Literary Press. 1999.
  2. ^Xinhua Zidian(10th ed.).Commercial Press.2004. p. 11.ISBN7-100-03931-2.;Hiện đại Hán ngữ từ điển[Modern Chinese Dictionary] (5th ed.). Commercial Press. 2005. p. 30.ISBN7-100-04385-9.
  3. ^abĐài Loan trứ danh tác gia bách dương nhân bệnh qua đời[Famous Taiwanese writer Bo Yang dies of illness].BBC News Online(in Chinese). 29 April 2008.Retrieved30 April2008.
  4. ^abWang (2005),p. 62
  5. ^Kristof, Nicholas D. (February 16, 1992). "A Dictatorship That Grew Up".The New York Times.
  6. ^"Why it is the end of the road for The Ugly Chinaman".South China Morning Post.2021-11-19.Retrieved2023-01-06.
  7. ^Tác gia bách dương chết bệnh[Writer Bo Yang dies].United Daily News(in Chinese). April 29, 2008.
  8. ^Bách dương rạng sáng chết bệnh hưởng thọ 89 tuổi[Bo Yang passed away in the early morning at the age of 89].China Times(in Chinese). 29 April 2008. Archived fromthe originalon May 2, 2008.Retrieved30 April2008.
  9. ^Dreyer, June Teufel (17 July 2003)."Taiwan's Evolving Identity"(PDF).Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2009-03-26.
  10. ^Hsieh, Daisy (July 1997)."Tragedy and Tolerance--The Green Island Human Rights Monument".Sinorama.Archived fromthe originalon May 10, 2007.Retrieved30 April2008.
  11. ^Williams, Philip F.; Wu, Yenna (2004).The Great Wall of Confinement: The Chinese Prison Camp through Contemporary Fiction and Reportage.Berkeley CA: University of California Press. p. 135.ISBN0-520-22779-4.
  12. ^"[title unknown]".Dongwu Zhengzhi Shehui Xue BaoĐông Ngô chính trị, xã hội học báo[Soochow Journal of Political Science] (23). Taipei: Soochow University: 16. 2006.ISSN0259-3785.
  13. ^Kristof, Nicholas D. (October 7, 1987)."One Author is Rankling Two Chinas".The New York Times.Taiwanese interrogators broke his leg to elicit a confession...
  14. ^Kerr, George (1965).Formosa Betrayed.Boston: Houghton Mifflin..
  15. ^Rigger, Shelley(2014),Why Taiwan Matters: Small Island, Global Powerhouse,Lanham MD: Rowman & Littlefield, p. 65,ISBN978-1-4422-0480-5
  16. ^Zhou, Bise; Bo, Yang (1996).Bo Yang hui yi luBách dương hồi ức lục[Bo Yang, Memoirs]. Taipei: Yuanliu chuban.
  17. ^Lin, Zi-yao (1989). "Preface".One Author Is Rankling Two Chinas.Taipei: Sinkuang Book Co. p. 16.OCLC36853411.
  18. ^Goldblatt, Howard (1986). "Foreword".Bo Yang, Poems of A Period.Hong Kong: Joint Publishing. p. XI.
  19. ^Barry, Wm. Theodore; Lufrano, Richard; Chan, Wing-tsit, eds. (2000).Sources of Chinese Tradition from 1600 through the Twentieth Century.Vol. 2 (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Columbia University Press. p. 565.ISBN0-231-11270-X.
  20. ^Mitter (2005),p. 270
  21. ^Gunn, Edward M. (1991).Rewriting Chinese: Style and Innovation in Twentieth-Century Chinese Prose.Stanford CA: Stanford University Press. p. 156.
  22. ^Gunn (1991):"Bo Yang had indeed enjoyed playful irony in his use of wenyan wen and wordplay, as well as sport with complex syntax, all of which are key features ofLu Xun's writing. "
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