Quote:
Taiwanese essayist Bo Yang dies of lung disease
By (AP)
Published: 2008-04-29 01:20:02
Location: TAIPEI, Taiwan
Taiwanese essayist Bo Yang, who infuriated both Nationalist and Communist authorities with his tart critiques of abusive leaders and antidemocratic behavior, died Tuesday of lung disease in Taipei. He was 88.
Bo had been receiving treatment for pneumonia at the city's Cardinal Tien Hospital since February and died on Tuesday, the hospital said.
Originally known as Kuo Yi-tong, Bo was born in Henan in eastern China in 1920. He fled to Taiwan in 1949 when Ma Zedong's Communists defeated Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists in the Chinese civil war.
He found work as a columnist for the Independence Evening Post, a small liberal newspaper, but quickly ran foul of the one-party Nationalist dictatorship of the day after he blasted Chiang's government for corruption and abuse of power.
Bo was jailed in 1968 following his free translation of the American comic strip Popeye, which he used to poke fun at Chiang's refusal to conduct open presidential elections.
He served nine years in prison on charges of being a communist spy _ a government catchall for dealing with troublemakers during the martial law period that only ended in 1987.
Bo's provocative writing also led him to be attacked by the Chinese Communists.
China briefly banned his 1985 book "The Ugly ******** and the Crisis of Chinese Culture" and several other essay collections, claiming they insulted the Chinese people.
In many of his essays, Bo told Chinese that their culture _ a source of pride for centuries _ has many shortcomings. He criticized the Chinese as selfish, unconcerned about other people's rights and being too willing to tolerate the abuse of power.
He argued fervently that those qualities hurt democracy and favored authoritarian regimes.
"The Chinese Communists have disrupted good Chinese values more completely (than their imperial predecessors) and without feeling any shame," Bo said in a 1988 interview with The Associated Press in Taipei after returning from his first home visit to China in four decades.
|
Bo Yang (柏杨) was a heroic figure in Taiwan’s democracy. His books and newspaper commentaries had provided powerful thought leadership to the evolution of Taiwan’s politics, culture and mindset. His sharp criticisms often bordered insults, yet his love for Chinese and his passion for better Chinese culture were unmistakable. His style resembled traditional Chinese court officials (忠臣) who would risk their lives to press emperors to do right things. It’s a humbling experience to buy and read his books only to be criticized. In retrospect, that humility and introspection was probably essential for Taiwan’s democracy to take root.
News of his passing away was greeted with commentaries along the line of:
“Now Chinese are still ugly, but who is going to tell us?”
“Taiwan, we lost our conscience and our Father!”
For Chinese readers, here is the link to the Wiki page on Bo Yang:
柏杨 - Wikipedia