Did You Know That … ?
- The author's real name is Liu Rong-zong (劉榮宗), and apart from his famous pen name Long Ying-zong (龍瑛宗), he also went by Peng Zhi-yuan (彭智遠).
- His life was marked by oppression under Japanese colonial rule. As a kid, he was bullied for his weak physique and asthma, and as a bank account and Japanese-Chinese translator, he was berated by his Japanese employers for his inability to speak Taiwanese Hokkien (he was Hakka).
- Long's employers even threatened to call the police on him when his friendship with a female Japanese dentist was discovered, nipping the secret romance at its bud and deepening his feelings of inferiority as a colonized, second-class citizen.
Read more about the author here or scroll down for pictures.
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Some of his enduring works include short story "A Small Town Planted with Papaya Tree (植有木瓜樹的小鎮)," which describes the rot and decay brought upon by colonialism;
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"The Lonely Bookworm (孤獨な蠧魚)," his first published anthology on literary discourse and critique;
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"Cicada (蟬)" and other poems;
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"Sketches of the Female Portrait (女性描寫)," a collection of short stories juxtaposing the unwavering female spirit against the emotionally defeated men under Japanese colonialism;
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And his first and only full-length novel, "The Mortal World (紅塵)," which narrates the depth of moral depravation in people chasing after power and money, including prostituting one's favorite concubine to curry favors.
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For his indelible contributions to Taiwan's literary scene, Long was commended by President Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) in 1999.