Ye Xin (born Ye Chengxi on 16 October 1949) is a Chinese writer who has written profusely about "

sent-down youth The sent-down, rusticated, or "educated" youth (), also known as the ''zhiqing'', were the young people who—beginning in the 1950s until the end of the Cultural Revolution, willingly or under coercion—left the urban districts of the ...

s" (also known as "educated youths"), drawing from his own experience. A

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

native, Ye Xin "volunteered" to receive his "rustication" in remote

Guizhou Guizhou (; formerly Kweichow) is a landlocked province in the southwest region of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Guiyang, in the center of the province. Guizhou borders the autonomous region of Guangxi to t ...

in 1969, where he spent 2 decades of his life. He has written over 20 novels, but is best known for writing the teleplay of mega-hit series ''

Sinful Debt ''Sinful Debt'' is a 1995 Chinese television drama directed by Huang Shuqin and produced by Shanghai Television. It was written by Ye Xin, based on his 1992 novel ''Educated Youth''. The series follows five innocent-eyed teens (all portrayed by fi ...

'' (1995), based on his 1992 novel ''

Educated Youth The sent-down, rusticated, or "educated" youth (), also known as the ''zhiqing'', were the young people who—beginning in the 1950s until the end of the Cultural Revolution, willingly or under coercion—left the urban districts of the ...

''. Ye has been vice-chairman of

China Writers Association China Writers Association or Chinese Writers Association (CWA, ) is a subordinate people's organization of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles (CFLAC). Founded in July 1949, the organization was initially named the China National Liter ...

since 1997, and president of Shanghai University College of Liberal Arts from 1997 to 2014.

Life

Ye Chengxi was born in

. Since his parents owned land before the

Chinese Communist Revolution The Chinese Communist Revolution, officially known as the Chinese People's War of Liberation in the People's Republic of China (PRC) and also known as the National Protection War against the Communist Rebellion in the Republic of China (ROC ...

, the family was classified a member of the "

Five Black Categories The "Five Black Categories" () referred to the following five political identities. These groups were: * Landlords () * Rich farmers () * Counter-revolutionaries () * Bad influencers bad elements"() * Right-wingers () During the period of the ...

" and raided during the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal ...

. Ye graduated from high school in 1966, and was " sent down" to work in

Chongming Island Chongming, formerly known as Chungming, is an alluvial island at the mouth of the Yangtze River in eastern China covering as of 2010. Together with the islands Changxing and Hengsha, it forms Chongming District, the northernmost area of the pr ...

(a rural island under the jurisdiction of Shanghai) in 1968 as part of the

Down to the Countryside Movement The Up to the Mountains and Down to the Countryside Movement, often known simply as the Down to the Countryside Movement, was a policy instituted in the People's Republic of China between mid 1950s and 1978. As a result of what he perceived to ...

. A year later, Ye and his younger sister arrived in

Xiuwen County Xiuwen County () is a county in central Guizhou province, China. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Guiyang Guiyang (; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ), historically rendered as Kweiyang, is the capital of Guizhou provin ...

(2000 km away from Shanghai), where he noticed "life was worse than eimagined." Ye had been writing since elementary school, but in middle school he was once scolded by a teacher who happened upon his private diary and discovered "seeds of bourgeois thought". Free from such fear in the backwoods of Guizhou, Ye resumed his writing. He had to write in bed since there was no table, and rely on the paper his former classmate mailed him from Shanghai as it was otherwise also unavailable. In 1970, he joined hundreds of thousands of people to build the

Hunan–Guizhou Railway The Hunan–Guizhou railway or Xiangqian railway (), is a double-track electrified railroad in Southwest China linking Zhuzhou, Hunan, with Guiyang, Guizhou. The railway runs through a very mountainous region, 23% of its length were either bridge ...

, spending 2 years of "really tough" work on the railroad, often working without enough to eat. Thereafter he returned to his previous village and began teaching in an elementary school. His new position allowed for ample time to write. Some of Ye's stories on "sent-down youths" were sent to a Shanghai publisher during this time. Editors there liked his writing, but wanted him to revise his stories to feature "

class conflict Class conflict, also referred to as class struggle and class warfare, is the political tension and economic antagonism that exists in society because of socio-economic competition among the social classes or between rich and poor. The forms ...

" and incorporate the prevailing political movements such as "

Criticize Lin, Criticize Confucius The Criticize Lin (Biao), Criticize Confucius Campaign (; also called the Anti-Lin Biao, Anti-Confucius campaign) was a political and intellectual campaign started by Mao Zedong and his wife, Jiang Qing, the leader of the Gang of Four. It lasted f ...

" or "

Counterattack the Right-Deviationist Reversal-of-Verdicts Trend Counterattack the Right-Deviationist Reversal-of-Verdicts Trend (), later known as Criticize Deng, Counterattack the Right-Deviationist Reversal-of-Verdicts Trend (), was a Chinese political campaign launched by Mao Zedong in November 1975 against ...

". Ye quite resented the idea, but reluctantly revised his works to get published. He also wrote children's stories to "avoid writing about class struggle". After the end of the Cultural Revolution in 1976 and the relaxation of the political atmosphere, Ye began to write about the hardships and sufferings endured by "sent-down youths", his "real emotions and thinking". In 1980 he went to

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 ...

to attend a workshop held at the

Lu Xun Literary Institute The Lu Xun Literary Institute (), located in Beijing, is China's only national academy in literature education. Established in 1950 as the Central Literary Research Institute (), it was closed in 1957 due to the Anti-Rightist Movement and not reope ...

. Subsequently he became chief editor of a Guizhou-based literary magazine until he returned to Shanghai in 1990.

Filmography (as screenwriter)

*1978: ''Huowa'' (), a film based on his 1977 novel ''High Sierra in Miaoling'' (). Ye Xin co-wrote the screenplay with director Xie Fei. *1982: ''The Ages of Idling Away'' (), a TV series based on his 1980 novel of the same name. *1995: ''

'', a TV series based on his 1992 novel ''

''. *2010: ''

Sinful Debt 2 ''Sinful Debt 2'' is a 2010 Chinese television drama and the sequel of the 1995 hit series ''Sinful Debt''. Again created by novelist Ye Xin, the story follows the same 5 children of sent-down youths—no longer teens but young adults nearing 30, ...

'', a TV series based on his 2008 sequel novel, which actually continues the story of the TV series rather than the novel. Ye Xin co-wrote the screenplay with Zhang Wei and his son Ye Tian.

Works available in English translations

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ye, Xin Living people 1949 births Screenwriters from Shanghai 20th-century Chinese novelists 21st-century Chinese novelists Chinese male novelists Delegates to the 6th National People's Congress Delegates to the 7th National People's Congress Chinese television writers Sent-down youths Shanghai University faculty Chinese male writers Male television writers Educators from Shanghai People's Republic of China politicians from Shanghai