Bo Yang
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Bo Yang (; 7 March 1920 – 29 April 2008), sometimes also erroneously called Bai Yang, was a
Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
historian, novelist, philosopher, poet, and politician based in Taiwan. He is also regarded as a social critic. 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

Boyang was born as Guō Dìngshēng () in
Kaifeng Kaifeng () is a prefecture-level city in east-central Henan province, China. It is one of the Eight Ancient Capitals of China, having been the capital eight times in history, and is best known for having been the Chinese capital during the Nort ...
,
Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...
Province, China, with family origins in
Huixian Huixian () is a county-level city under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Xinxiang, in the northwest of Henan province, China, bordering Shanxi Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People ...
. Boyang's father changed his son's name to Guō Lìbāng () to facilitate a transfer to another school. Bo Yang later changed his name to Guo Yìdòng, also spelled Kuo I-tung (). In high school, Boyang participated in youth organisations of the
Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...
, the then-ruling party of the
Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...
, and joined the Kuomintang itself in 1938. He graduated from the National Northeastern University, and moved to Taiwan after the Kuomintang lost the civil war in 1949. In 1950, he was imprisoned for six months for listening to
Communist Chinese , anthem = "The Internationale" , seats1_title = National People's Congress (13th) , seats1 = , seats2_title = NPC Standing Committee , seats2 = , flag = Flag of the Chinese Communist Pa ...
radio 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 the ''Independent 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 novel ''The Alien Realm'' ( ''Yìyù''), which told the story of a Kuomintang force which fought on in the borderlands of southwestern China long after the government had retreated to
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
. He became director of the Pingyuan Publishing House in 1966, and also edited the cartoon page of ''China Daily'' (). Boyang was arrested again in 1967 because of his sarcastic "unwitting" criticism of Taiwan's dictator
Chiang Kai-shek Chiang Kai-shek (31 October 1887 – 5 April 1975), also known as Chiang Chung-cheng and Jiang Jieshi, was a Chinese Nationalist politician, revolutionary, and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 ...
and in particular a translation of a comic strip of Popeye. In the strip,
Popeye Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by E. C. Segar, Elzie Crisler Segar.Swee'Pea Swee'Pea (alternatively spelled Swee'pea and Sweapea on some titles and once called Sweep Pea) is a character in E. C. Segar's comic strip ''Thimble Theatre''/'' Popeye'' and in the cartoon series derived from it. His name refers to the flower k ...
have 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 son
Chiang Ching-kuo Chiang Ching-kuo (27 April 1910 – 13 January 1988) was a politician of the Republic of China after its retreat to Taiwan. The eldest and only biological son of former president Chiang Kai-shek, he held numerous posts in the government ...
as heir apparent. Boyang translated the word "fellows" as "my fellow soldiers and countrymen," a phrase used by Chiang Kai-shek. 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. “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. In order to make him confess, they broke his leg. Western allies of the regime were not unaware of this. 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 “ of Taiwanese and Mainlanders were swept up by the White Terror, suffering imprisonment, torture, (…) execution.” 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 a
political prisoner A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although n ...
(for "being a Communist agent and attacking national leaders") on Green Island for 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 as
Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
. 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 his ''Popeye'' translation. This was due to the fact that in his view objective criticism mattered whereas personal insults were irrelevant.


Works

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.” 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 entitled ''Secrets'' in 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' he writer of essays Kuo I-tung he novelist and short story writeris 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.” Aside from his
Golden Triangle Golden Triangle may refer to: Places Asia * Golden Triangle (Southeast Asia), named for its opium production * Golden Triangle (Yangtze), China, named for its rapid economic development * Golden Triangle (India), comprising the popular tourist ...
novel ''Yiyu'', (, 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) and '' The Ugly Chinaman'' ( ''Chǒulòu de Zhōngguórén'', 1985; English translation, with the subtitle ''... and the Crisis of Chinese Culture'', 1992). In the introduction to excerpts from ''The Ugly Chinaman'', the editors of an anthology entitled ''Sources of Chinese Tradition from 1600 through the Twentieth Century'' state 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.” Also referring to ''The Ugly Chinaman'', Rana Mitter says that Bo Yang's position as a critical observer and analyst of the world is similar to
Lu Xun Zhou Shuren (25 September 1881 – 19 October 1936), better known by his pen name Lu Xun (or Lu Sun; ; Wade–Giles: Lu Hsün), was a Chinese writer, essayist, poet, and literary critic. He was a leading figure of modern Chinese literature. W ...
's. Both were skeptical, yet committed writers and less naive than younger 'romanticists'. 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.” 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).: “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 of
Lu Xun Zhou Shuren (25 September 1881 – 19 October 1936), better known by his pen name Lu Xun (or Lu Sun; ; Wade–Giles: Lu Hsün), was a Chinese writer, essayist, poet, and literary critic. He was a leading figure of modern Chinese literature. W ...
's writing.”
Bo Yang gained attention internationally when a volume of poetry entitled ''Poems of a Period'' was published in Hong Kong in 1986. These poems recall his arrest and imprisonment.


Later years

Bo Yang lived in
Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...
in his later years. He became the founding president of the Taiwan chapter of
Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
. 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 President
Chen Shui-bian Chen Shui-bian (; born 12 October 1950) is a retired Taiwanese politician and lawyer who served as the president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2000 to 2008. Chen was the first president from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) whic ...
. In 2006, Boyang retired from writing, and donated the bulk of his manuscripts to the Chinese Modern Literature Museum in
Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by the
National Tainan University The National University of Tainan (NUTN; ) is a university in West Central District, Tainan, Taiwan. History NUTN was founded during the Taiwan under Japanese rule, Japanese rule as Tainan Normal School in June 1899. In January 1946, after Retro ...
, to which he also donated many memorabilia and some manuscripts. Boyang died of
pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...
in a hospital near his Xindian residence on 29 April 2008. 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)


Essays and historical research by Bo Yang

* * * * * * * * *


Prose fiction and poetry by Bo Yang

* – Fiction. * * – Fiction. * * * – Fiction.


on Bo Yang

* * * * * *


See also

* Bo Yang Museum


Notes


References


External links


Biosketch
at the Taiwanese American Foundation website *Bo Yang
"The Ugly Chinaman"
''The China Story Yearbook''. 22 October 2013. *Hsieh Wen-hua
"Bo Yang classic reaches out to today’s youth."
''
Taipei Times The ''Taipei Times'' is the only printed daily English-language newspaper in Taiwan, and the third established there. Online competitors include the state-owned ''Focus Taiwan'' and ''Taiwan News''; ''The China Post'' was formerly a competit ...
''. 5 April 2008. p. 3. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bo Yang 1920 births 2008 deaths 20th-century Chinese historians 20th-century Chinese male writers 20th-century Chinese novelists 20th-century Chinese poets 20th-century Chinese politicians 20th-century Taiwanese poets 20th-century Taiwanese politicians Amnesty International people Chinese emigrants to Taiwan Chinese male novelists Deaths from pneumonia in Taiwan Historians from Henan International Writing Program alumni Northeastern University (China) alumni Poets from Henan Politicians from Kaifeng Republic of China historians Republic of China novelists Republic of China poets Senior Advisors to President Chen Shui-bian Social critics 20th-century Taiwanese historians Taiwanese people from Henan Taiwanese philosophers Writers from Kaifeng