Knowra Ba Jin Ba Jin Ba Jin (1904–2005), born Li Yaotang, was a Chinese novelist and essayist whose fiction portrayed family conflict, social change, and revolutionary ideals.
Spring : A 1938 novel by Ba Jin, the second volume of the Turbulent Stream trilogy. It continues the Gao family story begun in Family.
Chengdu : The capital of Sichuan province in southwestern China, historically a major regional cultural center. Ba Jin grew up in a prominent Chengdu family, the setting behind much of Family.
Cold Nights : A 1947 novel by Ba Jin about a couple struggling amid wartime hardship and social change. It shifts from youthful revolt to the strain that war and poverty place on marriage.
Cultural Revolution : A Chinese political campaign from 1966 to 1976 that brought mass mobilization, persecution, and upheaval. Ba Jin was persecuted during this campaign, an experience he later addressed in essays and memoir.
Autumn : A 1940 novel by Ba Jin, concluding the Turbulent Stream trilogy. Its ending traces the consequences of rebellion and generational conflict within the Gao family.
Shanghai : A major Chinese port city and commercial center on the Yangtze River delta. Ba Jin lived and worked in Shanghai, where several of his major novels were published.
The Family : A 1941 film adaptation of Ba Jin’s novel Family. The novel’s family conflict also became a major subject for Chinese cinema.
Scar literature : A post-Mao Chinese literary movement depicting trauma inflicted by the Cultural Revolution. Ba Jin’s post-Mao writing belongs to the broader reckoning with political persecution and its damage.
The Turbulent Stream : A trilogy of novels by Ba Jin comprising Family, Spring, and Autumn. The trilogy gathers his most famous sustained portrayal of a changing Chinese family.
Paris : The capital of France and a major European center of art, politics, and intellectual life. Ba Jin’s stay in Paris exposed him to anarchist ideas that influenced his early writing.
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