October 10, 2005

Lung Ying-tai was born on February 13, 1952 in Kaohsiung. Educated in Taiwan and USA, the soft-spoken writer is famous for her commentaries and novels.

Lung's international background has shaped her cultural ideas. Born in Taiwan to immigrant parents from China's Hunan Province, she grew up in rural southern Taiwan and went to college there. But she studied for her master's and doctorate degrees in USA and spent most of the past 20 years living there and in Europe. Her husband and two sons still live in Germany.

Upon returning to Taiwan in the late 1980s from USA, she was irritated by the corruption, pollution and inefficiency. Her poignant and critical essays contributed to the democratization of Taiwan. Her collection of short commentaries published in the 1980s created a stir in the Taiwan literary scene. In a weekly newspaper column, she called for political reforms; a collection of those columns became her book of "Wild Fire", one of the most popular and influential books of the 1980s. When the book appeared in bookstores and newsstands in 1985, it sold through 24 editions in 21 days and four months later, it had sold 100,000 copies. Death threats ensued, but in her own small way, she helped bring about the end of 38 years of martial law in 1987. She left Taiwan again a few years later to live in Europe and only returned in 1999 to take up her post as the first Cultural Affairs Director of Taipei.

During her 4-year term as a cultural architect of the city she has designed as well as practiced a new concept of cultural policy, which has had a great impact on contemporary culture in Taiwan and greater China. Being a long-time resident of Germany, Lung paints herself as a cosmopolitan figure, constantly announcing her intention to "bring international culture to Taiwan". Her independent working style, weak personal skills and self-centered attitude have made her hard to work with. Worse still, her pride as an intellectual and her perception that as a mainlander she is culturally superior, show through her words and actions.

With her intellectual passion and extensive knowledge, Lung is particularly well known for her quick wit and eloquence. She earns widespread acclaim as she represents a kind of human spirit, one that engages in the pursuit of justice. She is a woman who ventures where few dare to tread. In the name of preserving history, she braved the snake-infested former residence of the American ambassador to Taiwan to see if it could be saved.

In 1988, she became the first Taiwan female reporter to be invited by the Soviet government for an interview in Moscow. She has also contributed regularly in European newspapers. As the only Taiwanese writer with a column in major Chinese newspapers, she is considered one of the most influential writers in Chinese Mainland as well. Her writings have been well received by readers in Taiwan, Chinese Mainland and the European countries, which is a rare achievement. She is now a Visiting Professor of Journalism and Media Studies Centre, University of Hong Kong.

She had been named as one of the top 50 public intellectuals of the Chinese world, and then promptly attacked by official Chinese media for being unduly influential. In the past, she has gone to China and delivered speeches. She once wrote, "Shanghai man is very lovely. He will not feel despised even if he buys groceries, cooks and cleans the floor. He will not feel low even if he washes his woman's underwear. He speaks softly without thinking that he lacks muscular mettle. He will not feel weak if his woman is strong…" But she also said, "In Shanghai if you want to build a highway, you can overnight move thousands and thousands of residents away and have the highway built in a matter of months. But behind this efficiency there are many, many people sacrificed that you don't hear about. I don't want this. (Having different voices and opinions from the society) is a price democracy has to pay". 

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Literature