Jin Ba

Pa Chin

Four generations of the Kao family struggle to live on the family compound as intergenerational conflicts arise.

Family

The first half of the 20th century was a period of great turmoil in China, with thousands of years of established civilization being uprooted by a radical socialist revolution. Family, one of the most popular Chinese novels of that time, vividly reflects that turmoil and serves as a basis for understanding what followed; this accurate English translation is an ideal example of the effectiveness of fiction as a vehicle for translating the experience of one culture to another very different one. Family was written in 1931 as the first part of Pa Chin's (Ba Jin's) trilogy Turbulent Stream, which as been compared to the classic Dream of the Red Chamber for its superb portrayal of the family life and society of its time. Drawn largely from Ba Jin's own experience, Family is the story of the Kao family compound, consisting of four generations plus servants; it's essentially a picture of the conflict between old China and the new tide rising to destroy it, as manifested in the daily lives of the Kao family.

Autumn in Spring and Other Stories

Famiglia

Chin Pa

Fei-Kan Li

Random Thoughts

A Novel of Wartime China

Ward Four

Spring

Autumn in Spring

Selected Works of Ba Jin

A Novel

Cold Nights

"A triumph of humanism in war-ravaged China of the 1940s, this work of autobiographical fiction not only shows Ba Jin at his best, but also demonstrates why he is rightly viewed as the 'conscience of China.'"? Michelle Yeh, department of East Asian languages, University of California, Davis A major work by a towering figure in twentieth century Chinese literature, Ward Four intimately reveals the frailties and strengths of the human spirit and the will to survive. Set in a hospital in rural China during World War II, it provides a haunting window into the isolation and displacement faced by ordinary citizens. Ba Jin's hospital ward is a dark corner where life and death intersect and the absurd is transformed into the comic. Amid the uncertainties of war are the foundations of strength and the will to survive during one of the darkest periods of Chinese history. Ba Jin (1904?2005) is widely considered one of China's greatest literary figures. Haili Kong is professor of Chinese literature at Swarthmore College. Howard Goldblatt is professor of Chinese literature at Notre Dame University.

Jin Ba

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