''Big River, Big Sea — Untold Stories of 1949'' () is a collection of stories written by Taiwanese author

Lung Ying-tai Lung Ying-tai (; born 13 February 1952 in Kaohsiung) is a Taiwanese essayist and cultural critic. She occasionally writes under the pen name 'Hu Meili' (). Lung's poignant and critical essays contributed to the democratization of Taiwan and as t ...

published in August 2009. It tells in detail, the events from the surrounding the conclusion of the Chinese Civil War including Chinese families that were broken up by the civil war that ended in 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 ...

’s defeat in 1949, with some two million escaping to Taiwan. Lung Ying-tai spent more than 10 years researching material for the book and spent 400 days in

Changchun Changchun (, ; ), also romanized as Ch'angch'un, is the capital and largest city of Jilin Province, People's Republic of China. Lying in the center of the Songliao Plain, Changchun is administered as a , comprising 7 districts, 1 county and 3 c ...

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

Shenyang Shenyang (, ; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly known as Fengtian () or by its Manchu language, Manchu name Mukden, is a major China, Chinese sub-provincial city and the List of capitals in China#Province capitals, provincial capital of Lia ...

Matsu Islands The Matsu Islands ( or , ; Foochow Romanized: Mā-cū liĕk-dō̤), officially Lienchiang County (, ; Foochow Romanized: Lièng-gŏng-gâing), are an archipelago of 36 islands and islets in the East China Sea governed by the Republic of China ( ...

Taitung County Taitung County (; Mandarin pinyin: ''Táidōng Xiàn''; Hokkien POJ: ''Tâi-tang-koān''; Hakka PFS: ''Thòi-tûng-yen''; Paiwan: ''Valangaw'';lit:Eastern part of Taiwan) is the third largest county in Taiwan, located primarily on the island' ...

and

Pingtung County Pingtung County is a county located in southern Taiwan. It has a warm tropical monsoon climate and is known for its agriculture and tourism. Kenting National Park, Taiwan's oldest national park, is located in the county. The county seat is Pin ...

paying a visit to survivors of the Chinese Civil War in order to record their stories.

Reviews

Leo Ou-fan Lee Leo Ou-fan Lee (; born 10 October 1942) is a Chinese commentator and author who was elected Fellow of Academia Sinica in 2002. Lee also was a professor at Chinese University of Hong Kong, Princeton University, Indiana University, University of Ch ...

wrote in ''Muse'' that 'the problem f the booklies in the author's over-ambitious intent to write a testimonial saga of mammoth historical scope - all in 450 pages or 150,000 words. It should have been three times that size.' Lung had said in the public that she especially wanted readers from mainland China to read this book. However, since the books covered various misdeeds of the Chinese Red Army during this era, it was banned by the People's Republic of China government. However, this book is still obtainable to readers in mainland China through online purchase. In response to the book,

Li Ao Li Ao (, also spelled Lee Ao; 25 April 1935 – 18 March 2018) was a Chinese writer, social commentator, historian and independent politician based in Taiwan. Li has been called one of the most important modern East Asian essayists today; his ...

wrote a critical piece titled ''the Big River, Big Sea has fooled you'' ().

References

Chinese-language books 20th century in China 20th century in Taiwan Books about Taiwan Book censorship in China Chinese Civil War 2009 non-fiction books Censored books {{story-stub