Lin Hai Yin, Influential Taiwanese Writer

Lin Hai Yin, formerly known as Lin Han Ying and nicknamed Ying Zi, was an influential modern Chinese author and served as a bridge between mainland and Taiwanese literature and China and the great literary world. Lin Hai Yin was born in Osaka, Japan on March 18, 1918, and she returned to Taiwan, where her family is originally from, with her parents at the age of 3. At that time, Taiwan was invaded by Japanese imperialists. Her father, Lin Huan, refused to live under the iron fist of the Japanese invaders, so when she was 5, the family moved to Beijing, China, where Yin spent the rest of her childhood. Throughout her life, she took on many roles, including a student, journalist, daughter, wife, and mother.

Lin Hai Yin’s literary career began early on because of familial influences. She was born into a scholarly family. Her father, Lin Huan Wen, was an intellectual, influenced by Sinology who received a Japanese education at the Mandarin Language School. He was proficient in Japanese and previously taught at Taiwan’s Xinpu Public School, instructing famous Taiwanese writer Wu Zhuo Liu during the Japanese occupation period. Later, Wen crossed the oceans to Japan for business, where he and his wife had their eldest daughter, Lin Hai Yin, then went to Beijing, where he served as head of a post office. Lin Huan Wen’s generosity and appreciation for education had a great influence on Yin’s childhood and the person she grew up to be.

Lin Hai Yin adopted her father’s morals, including selflessness, generosity, and helping others. The early death of her father gave Yin a more mature, deep understanding of society and its pressures, which largely motivated her future novels. In 1951, Lin Hai Yin truly embarked on her literary journey. Her works are rich and diverse, including novels, essays, reviews, poems, and children’s books.

Beijing was her starting point on the literary road. She studied at Beijing Chengnan Changdian Primary School and Beijing Journalism College. In 1937, after graduation, she worked as a reporter for World Daily. Soon after, in 1939, she married her colleague from the newspaper office, Xia Cheng Ying. She also worked as an editor and a librarian, and these occupations provided a wide range of experiences and opportunities to engage with different people, creating a deeper understanding of the social landscape of old Beijing and material for her future works. In fact, her most well-known novel Old Things in the South is based on her life in old Beijing. In August 1948, she returned to Taiwan with her husband and three children, and there, she served as editor of Mandarin Daily. In 1951, the publication Lianhe Daily was founded, and she was soon appointed its Editor-in-Chief. During her tenure, she paid special attention to supporting local writers. Following the death of Zhong LI, a famous Chinese writer who had a similar style to her, Lin Hai Yin published her first book Rain in his honor. Her novel Lishan Farm was soon serialized in the supplement of Lianhe Daily, and she published the famous poem “Ship”, which described a ship floating in the sea for a long time until it finally drifted to an isolated island, where it exhausted its resources and fell into distress. Taiwanese authorities believed this work was an allusion to the life of Chiang Kai-Shek, a well-known Chinese politician and military leader, after he arrived in Taiwan, and arrested Lin Hai Yin, preventing her from editing further supplements. Yin soon found work again, however, as an editor for Wenxing Magazine and teacher for the World Journalism School. In 1967, she founded the monthly magazine Pure Literature, which was active until 1972. She then took charge of the Pure Literature Publishing House independently and published the Pure Literature Series, her own magazine. On November 4, 1976, Lin Hai Yin attended the 9th Annual Conference of the Chinese Press Association at Hong Kong Furama Hotel as a member of the Taiwan delegation and delivered a speech, which boosted her confidence and established her as a famous writer. Later in her career, she engaged in children’s literature, publishing fables. At the age of 65, she abruptly announced that she would close the publishing house to travel the world.

Lin Hai Yin’s contributions to Taiwanese literature were numerous, including crafting intricate stories, examining society and culture in her novels, and running the Pure Literature Publishing House, one of Taiwan’s most influential literary publishing houses to date. She also engaged new readers in Taiwan’s literary world and inspired generations of authors to come. Lin Hai Yin had such a profound impact that some critics believe her death marked the end of an era in Taiwanese literature.

by Alexa Bernard

References

“Lin Hai-yin.” The Lin Hai-Yin Collective, https://enlinhaiyin.nmtl.gov.tw

“Lin Haiyin.” Goodreads, www.goodreads.com/author/show/311858.Lin_Haiyin

Lin, Haiyin. “Memories of Peking: South Side Stories.” Google Books, Chinese University Press, books.google.com/books/about/Memories_of_Peking.html?id=6fCuHAAACAAJ