Ting-Xing Ye
Encyclopedia
Ting-Xing Ye is a Chinese
- Canadian
author of young adult novels, as well as Leaf In A Bitter Wind
, a best-selling autobiographical account of her life in Maoist China.
Ye was born in Shanghai
, China
, in 1952, the fourth of five children. Her parents were a factory owner and his wife. Ye's parents died when she was a small child, leaving Ye and her four siblings in the care of her Great-Aunt. During the Cultural Revolution
, Ye and her family were condemned as having "bad blood" and persecuted by the Communist regime, because their father had been a boss in a factory. At sixteen, like millions of other young Chinese men and women, Ye was exiled to a prison
farm to "learn from the peasants" and be "reformed" by hard labor. On the farm, Ye was persecuted and suffered torture
at the hands of her leaders.
Ye spent six years laboring on the prison farm, before being admitted to Beijing University. She took a degree in English Literature
, then began a seven year career as English interpreter for the national government in Shanghai
. During that time she met her future husband, Canadian writer and educator William E. Bell
who taught English at the Foreign Affairs College in Beijing
. Ye came to Canada
in 1987. She published her autobiography
, detailing her life in Mao's China, in 1997. She published her first picture book in 1998. Ye also writes Young Adult fiction and non-fiction.
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
- Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
author of young adult novels, as well as Leaf In A Bitter Wind
Leaf In A Bitter Wind
Leaf In A Bitter Wind is the personal memoir of author Ting-Xing Ye's life in China from her birth in Shanghai to eventual escape to Canada in 1987.-Synopsis:...
, a best-selling autobiographical account of her life in Maoist China.
Ye was born in Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, in 1952, the fourth of five children. Her parents were a factory owner and his wife. Ye's parents died when she was a small child, leaving Ye and her four siblings in the care of her Great-Aunt. During the Cultural Revolution
Cultural Revolution
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...
, Ye and her family were condemned as having "bad blood" and persecuted by the Communist regime, because their father had been a boss in a factory. At sixteen, like millions of other young Chinese men and women, Ye was exiled to a prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
farm to "learn from the peasants" and be "reformed" by hard labor. On the farm, Ye was persecuted and suffered torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
at the hands of her leaders.
Ye spent six years laboring on the prison farm, before being admitted to Beijing University. She took a degree in English Literature
English literature
English literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....
, then began a seven year career as English interpreter for the national government in Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
. During that time she met her future husband, Canadian writer and educator William E. Bell
William E. Bell (author)
William E. Bell is a Canadian Young Adult fiction author.Bell was born in Toronto in 1945. He has been a high school English teacher and department head, an instructor at the Harbin University of Science and Technology, the Foreign Affairs College , and the University of British Columbia...
who taught English at the Foreign Affairs College in Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
. Ye came to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
in 1987. She published her autobiography
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
, detailing her life in Mao's China, in 1997. She published her first picture book in 1998. Ye also writes Young Adult fiction and non-fiction.
See also
- Scar literatureScar literatureScar literature or literature of the wounded is a genre of Chinese literature which emerged in the late 1970s, soon after the death of Mao Zedong, portraying the sufferings of cadres and intellectuals during the tragic experiences of the Cultural Revolution and the rule of the Gang of Four.The...
- Cultural RevolutionCultural RevolutionThe Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...
- Jung ChangJung ChangJung Chang is a Chinese-born British writer now living in London, best known for her family autobiography Wild Swans, selling over 10 million copies worldwide but banned in the People's Republic of China....