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.
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;
"The Lonely Bookworm (孤獨な蠧魚)," his first published anthology on literary discourse and critique;
"Cicada (蟬)" and other poems;
"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;
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.
For his indelible contributions to Taiwan's literary scene, Long was commended by President Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) in 1999.