Ba Jin (aka Pa Kin or Pa Chin, 1904–2005), original name Li Yaotang, courtesy name Feigan, was born in Chengdu, Sichuan province. A modern writer, publisher, and translator, Ba Jin is praised as one of the most influential writers since the May Fourth Movement, and an outstanding literary master of the twentieth century.

Born into a large gentry family in Chengdu, Sichuan province, Ba Jin’s great grandfather, grandfather, and father all served as government officials. However, he did not want to be treated merely as a pampered boy in a well-to-do family. His gentle and kind mother inculcated in him the precept of love. His involvement with the working people also helped him develop his ideas about opposing authority and feudal moral codes. From 1920 to 1928, he traveled from Chengdu to Shanghai, Nanjing, and France to study. He encountered many new ideas, and he began leaning toward anarchism. However, in the Chinese society of that time he had no opportunity to carry out his high aspirations. Marked by the writing of Family, it seemed that the second-best thing for him to do was “formally” to start writing fiction. During the Second Sino-Japanese War (or War of Resistance against Japan), he wandered from place to place until he finally reached the greater southwestern region. Using his pen as a weapon, he campaigned to save the nation. After the war, he along his wife and daughter moved back to Shanghai. During the following twenty-seven years, from 1949 when he joined the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles to 1976 when the Cultural Revolution ended, he experienced many ups and downs in his life. When he was in his most dire straits, his house was ransacked, his wife died of illness, he himself was kept in a “cowshed” (as punishment during the Cultural Revolution), and his works were totally banned. He suffered multiple heavy blows physically and mentally. It was not until 1977 that Ba Jin’s works were reissued and read again by the general public. In 1982, he became ill, but he continued to write until he was confined to bed.

As an assiduous writer, Ba Jin’s literary activities cover the fields of creative writing, translation, editing, and publishing. He had numerous great achievements. Most of his writings are fiction, which was his most influential literary form. His fiction can be roughly divided into six categories based on the subject matter: 1. Stories about young intellectuals’ emotional entanglements, inner conflict, and spirit of devotion to the ideal of revolution. For example, in his so-called “love trilogy,” Fog is hazy, Rain is delicate, and Electricity is idealistic. These works are his classics. 2. Stories that castigate the feudal family and ethical systems and shed light on the new and old power struggle inside feudal families, such as the works called the “torrent trilogy”: Family, Spring, and Autumn. The stories about different families show how the feudal family system was destroying the younger generation, while the new generation exhibited some new awakening and growth. 3. Writings that denounce the Japanese aggressors’ atrocities and display the fervor of people who fight against the enemy. For example, Fire, a three-volume work, also known as the “war trilogy,” is infused with the author’s personal experience and feelings and is filled with patriotic fervor. 4. Writings that describe ordinary people and their trivial affairs. Cold Night is a good example of the “trilogy of the ordinary people and trivial affairs” series, in which ordinary people show tremendous strength in tragic situations. 5. Writings that describe life in foreign lands and tell about historical figures. For example, Vengeance and other works, which are rather heavily influenced by Western fiction, show the author’s heartfelt belief that one must “treat other people’s misfortune as one’s own misfortune.” 6. Writings that reflect the miserable life of the underclass of laborers and how they fight against poverty. Miners is a work that describes the miserable plight of ordinary people. The first four categories are novels and novellas; they represent the mainstream of Ba Jin’s creative writings. Among them, the “torrent trilogy” is the most important series, and one of the masterpieces of modern Chinese literary history. Also, Ba Jin’s short stories are in no way inferior to his novels and novellas. Most of the last two categories are short stories.

Ba Jin published nearly thirty collections of prose writings—he is truly a great prose writer. Poetry was his earliest creative writing. His lyrical verses and political lyrics contain many excellent pieces. Translation was also a part of his entire literary career. He translated various literary forms including novels, fairy tales, poems, prose writings, theatrical scripts, and scholarly essays from Russian, British, German, Japanese, Italian, Polish, and Hungarian writers. His editing and writing careers occurred simultaneously. The large scale literary periodicals that he edited were widely praised by literary circles. After having their works edited by Ba Jin, many new writers became prominent. 

As an eye witness who personally experienced the twentieth century, Ba Jin trod rough and bumpy roads for more than ninety years. His writings have exerted a broad and far-reaching influence among several generations of readers. His writings have been translated into nearly thirty languages, including Japanese, Russian, English, and others, and are widely circulated in the world. He is a modern Chinese writer who has enjoyed the most international honors and fame.