Li Yongping is an outstanding Sinophone Malaysian novelist, who grew up in North Borneo, a British colony, studied in Taiwan and the US successively, and finally settled down in Taiwan. Li’s multinational identity and trans-border experience are reflected in his works. His most representative piece, Retribution: The Jiling Chronicles, is written in the so-called “authentic Chinese language” to reenact small-town living on paper with a rich Chinese flavor, projecting the nostalgia for homeland of the Chinese diaspora. His more recent works, The End of the River (Volume 1 &2), mark a return to the colonial past of his native land, Borneo, and were lauded as a milestone of “rain forest writing” in the Chinese-literature community. Li’s works have been translated into English and Japanese; the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has also established an author’s website for him, reinforcing his international influence. His many awards include: the book category of the Golden Tripod Awards (Taiwan), the Zhongshan Cup Overseas Chinese Literature Award (China), and the Dream of the Red Chamber Award (Hong Kong); also, his work was featured in Yazhou Zhoukan’s 100 Best Novels of the 20th Century (Hong Kong). In 2016, Li was honored with the National Awards of Art by the National Culture and Arts Foundation (Taiwan).

-- Min-xu Zhan, 2017
(Translated by Jennifer Shih Carson, edited by Kuei-fen Chiu and Min-xu Zhan)

Keywords Taiwan Literature Malaysian Chinese Literature Sinophone Literature Modernism Diasporic Identity Rain Forest Writing

Creative process

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Li Yongping making a statement of his writing
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The Three Periods of Li Yongping’s Literary Career
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Li Yongping interviewed by Ko Chia Cian
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Li Yongping interviewed by Zhan Min-xu

Timeline

Works

Gallery

Manuscripts

Readings

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“A La-tzu Woman”
Provided by National Academy for Educational Research
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“In Great Blessing Lane”
Provided by Li Yongping
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“Emerald Valley”
Provided by Li Yongping
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“Serenity River”
Provided by Li Yongping

Translations

About

The Li Yongping Archive was constructed under the aegis of the National Museum of Taiwan Literature in 2017 by assistant professor Zhan Min-Xu and Professor Chiu Kuei-fen from the Graduate Institute of Taiwan Literature and Transnational Cultural Studies. The Archive presents a timeline of Li's artistic journey, a statement of Li’s writing, interviews, introduction to the different phases of Li’s writing, online reading, and multimedia material. The manuscript of Retribution: the Jiling Chronicles is also included in the Archive. The different versions of part of the manuscript, which are well preserved by Hongfan Bookstore, give us an idea of the writer’s careful wording of Chinese characters.

The National Chung Hsing University wishes to acknowledge the contributions of the following scholars, government agencies, and individuals to the establishment of the Archives: Mr. Li Yongping; Mr. Ye Bu-rong (the founder of Hongfan Bookstore); Professor Huang Ying-che (Aichi University, Japan); Professor Ng Kim-chew (National Chi Nan University, Taiwan); Professor Ko Chia Cian (National Taiwan University, Taiwan); Professor Tee Kim Tong(National Chung Cheng University); Mr. Li Yuan-Jie; Mr. Chan Cheow-Thia; Miss Ho Isa; Ministry of Culture; National Culture and Arts Foundation; National Academy for Educational Research; National Taiwan University; Department of English at National of Dong Hwa University; Rye Field Publishing; Venerable Master Hsing Yun Public Education Trust Fund; and English translators Jennifer Shih Carson and Lin Chih-wei

All ownership rights, copyright and intellectual property in the materials on this website, including the content, words, sounds, and images, belong to or have been legally approved for use by the National Museum of Taiwan Literature (NMTL),. Those seeking to download, copy, change, distribute, publicly release or use the material in any other way must first acquire the consent of NMTL. NMTL reserves all legal rights for unauthorized use.

Meet the team
Director: Zhan Min-Xu and Chiu Kuei-fen
Web content editor: Zhan Min-xu and Hung Chien-mei
Web designer: Yoong Jun-yao
English website translators: Jennifer Shih Carson and Lin Chih-wei
English website editors: Chiu Kuei-fen and Zhan Min-xu