THE LIN HAI-YIN ARCHIVE

Lin Haiyin (1918-2001) was Hakka from Miaoli County of northern Taiwan. She moved to Beijing with her family when she was young. The experiences of living in Beijing became the major source of the background for her novelMy Memories of Old Beijing. Lin moved to Taiwan with her family in 1948. Between 1953 and 1963, she worked as the editor of the literary section of the United Daily News and was engaged in creating prose, novel, and children’s literature. In 1967, she established the literary periodical Belles-Lettres Monthly and, in the next year, founded the Belles-Lettres Publishing House. Lin devoted her life to editing, writing, and publishing. She supported a number of authors and played a significant role in promoting Taiwan’s modern literature.
Memories of Peking: South Side Stories, Stories of Marriage, Green Seaweed and Salted Eggs, Common Holly are her popular and representative works. Her works explore the problems of love and marriage for women in a fast changing Chinese society, paying particular attention to psychological and physical restraints imposed upon women by patriarchy. Her prose after the 80s is of great value with its depiction of the transformation of Taiwan’s literary world. -- introduction by Fan Min-ju, translated by Fran Lee.

Timeline


  “The entire literary world is like Lin Hai-yin’s ‘balance beam’”(excerpt)
In the writings she edited, a perfect balance is shown between local Taiwanese and Chinese mainlanders, men and women, realism and modernism, the military and people, the avant-garde and conservative, with each taking its proper place. When hearing the praise of her efforts to support local writers, Lin replied: “Their works helped to elevate my image as an chief-editor. We published well-written works rich in local colors every day. What makes the Literary Supplement of the United Daily distinguished is the glories they give me.” Such a reply serves as not only a beautiful compliment but also a description of the fact with her being neither too humble nor too proud. She was sure where her glories came from and where the boundaries were. ——Zhu You-xun, 2016 (translated by Fran Lee.)Read More

Literary Communities


Correspondence with Writers
Go
Letters from Scholars/Translators Abroad
Go
Letters from Readers
Go
Important Historical Materials about Lin Hai-yin and He Fan
Go

Works


《兩地(三版)》
三民,2018
Lin Hai-yin’s Collection of Fairy Tales

Taipei: Global View- Commonwealth Publishing Co., Ltd., 2011
Lin Hai-yin’s eighty Aesop'stories

Taipei: Mandarin Daily News, 2011


The Sea Sounds that Pass Through the Woods-Lin Hai-yin’s Visual Memoir
Taipei: Grimm Press Co., Ltd., 2000


Ying-zi’s Homesickness


Hangzhou: Zhejiang Literary Publishing House, 1997

A Long Time Passing

Beijing: Yan-Shan Publishing House, 1997
Daddy's Nurse(Mio Padre)

Taipei: Taiwan Mac Educational Co.,Ltd, 1996
Listening Quietly

Taipei: Er Ya Publishing House, 1996

Ying-zi’s Heart
Beijing: People’s Daily Press, 1996

The Prisoner Condemned to Death


Taipei: Taiwan Mac Educational Co.,Ltd, 1995

The One Who Lives



Taipei: Belles-Lettres Publishing House, 1994

Granny’s Fool-proof Camera


Taipei: Ming Sheng Daily Press, 1994

Memories of Peking: South Side Stories ,Vol.3:Donkey Rolls, Papa’s Flowers Have Fallen
Taipei: Grimm Press, Co., Ltd., Target International Publishing Co., Ltd., 1994
Memories of Peking: South Side Stories ,Vol.2: Let Us Go and See the Sea, Lan I-Niang
Taipei: Grimm Press Co., Ltd., Target International Publishing Co., Ltd., 1994
Memories of Peking: South Side Stories ,Vol.1: Hui-an Hostel

Taipei: Grimm Press Co., Ltd., Target International Publishing Co., Ltd., 1994
Rose Blanche



Taipei: Grimm Press, Co., Ltd., 1994


Gold Carp's Pleated Skirt



Wuhan: Chang-Jiang Literary Publishing House, 1993

Written in the Wind
Taipei: Belles-Lettres Publishing House, 1993
Amazing-Lin Hai-yin’s Elephant Collection
Taipei: Dong Hua Bookstore, 1992
Intelligent-Lin Hai-yin’s Elephant Collection
Taipei: Dong Hua Bookstore, 1992
The Funny Little Woman
Taipei: Yuan-Liou Publishing Co.,Ltd., 1992
Seeing Her Across the Bamboo Curtains
Taipei: Chiu Ko Publishing Co., Ltd., 1992
Tale of the Faithful Dove
Taipei: Belles-Lettres Publishing House, 1989
The Sly Old Cat
Taipei: Belles-Lettres Publishing House, 1989
Head of the House
Taipei: Belles-Lettres Publishing House, 1988
Living by a Bookstore-My Beijing-flavored Memoir
Taipei: Belles-Lettres Publishing House, 1987
Lin Hai-yin’s Collection of Fairy Tales-Animals

Taipei: Belles-Lettres Publishing House, 1987
Lin Hai-yin’s Collection of Fairy Tales-Stories

Taipei: Belles-Lettres Publishing House, 1987
Profiles of Literary Figures


Taipei: Belles-Lettres Publishing House, 1984
Aesop's Fables


Taipei: Mandarin Daily News, 1982

Selected Stories by Belles-Lettres Publishing House
Taipei: Belles-Lettres Publishing House,1982
Nighttime Reading by the Window

Taipei: Belles-Lettres Publishing House, 1982
Don. The Story Of A Lion Dog

Taipei: Belles-Lettres Publishing House, 1978
The Story of A Fierce Bad Rabbit
Taipei: Belles-Lettres Publishing House, 1978

The Tale of Benjamin Bunny
Taipei: Belles-Lettres Publishing House, 1978

Welcome to My Hometown
Taipei: Department of Education of Taiwan Provincial Government, 1978
Lin Hai-yin’s Own Collection
Taipei: Li Ming Cultural Enterprise Co., Ltd., 1975

Chinese Bamboo


Taipei: Belles-Lettres Publishing House, 1975
Anthologies of prose published by the Belles-Lettres Publishing House
Taipei: Belles-Lettres Publishing House, 1974
Window


Taipei: Belles-Lettres Publishing House, 1972
Chinese Tofu


Taipei: Belles-Lettres Publishing House, 1971
Wei-wei’s Weekly Journal


Taipei: Belles-Lettres Publishing House, 1968

The Bird that Doesn’t Have a Fear for Cold Weather-Penguin
Taipei: Department of Education of Taiwan Provincial Government, 1967
We Have All Grown Up


Taipei: Department of Education of Taiwan Provincial Government, 1967
Meng-zhu’s Journey


Taipei: Belles-Lettres Publishing House, 1967

Spring Breeze and Beautiful Sun
Hong Kon: Zheng-Wen Publishing House, 1967

The Old House of the Cais’

Taipei: Department of Education of Taiwan Provincial Government, 1966
Little Happy Comes Home

Taipei: School Boy Illustrative Magazin, 1966

The Story of Two Places

Taipei: San Min Book Co., Ltd., 1966


Visiting Americ
Taipei: Wen-Shin Bookstore, 1966
Golden Bridge
Taipei: Taiwan Bookstore, 1965
Candle Wick
Taipei: Wen-Shin Bookstore, 1963
Stories of Marriage
Taipei: Wen-Shin Bookstore, 1963
Liu-Yun
Taipei: Ming Hua Bookstore, 1960
Memories of Peking: South Side Stories
Taichung: KuanhChi Publishing House, 1960
Xiao-yun
Taipei: Hong-Lan Publishing House, 1959
Green Seaweed and Salted Eggs
Taipei: Wen-Hua Publishing House,1957
Common Holly
Taipei: Chong Guang Literary Publishing House, 1955

Translations


Min Barndoms Peking
瑞典文版《城南舊事》(2015)

More

아버지의 꽃은지고, 나는 이제어린애가:
아니다북경이야기 2
韓譯《爸爸的花兒落了》(2001)

More

우리는 바다를보러 간다 :
북경이야기 1 린하이윈린하이윈
韓譯《我們看海去》(2001)

More

Die Geheimnisse der Yingzi:
Erinnerungen an Peking
德譯《城南舊事》(1997)

More

城南旧事(じょうなんきゅうじ)
日譯《城南舊事》(1995)

More

Memories of Peking: south side stories
英譯《城南舊事》(1992)

More

Green seaweed & salted eggs
英譯《綠藻與鹹蛋》(1963)

More

Videos


Home in Two Cities Trailer
(with english subtitles)
Courtesy of Fisfisa Media
Home in Two Cities Trailer
( with chinese subtitles)
Courtesy of Fisfisa Media
Recall Lin Hai-yin
National Museum of Taiwan Literature collection

About


The Lin hai-yin Archive was inaugurated in 2016 by the National Museum of Taiwan Literature . Professor Chiu Kuei-fen from the Graduate Institute of Taiwan Literature and Transnational Cultural Studies oversaw its planning. The Archive features a timeline to track Lin's artistic journey, literature communities, works, translations, online reading, bibliography, and about.  

The National Chung Hsing University wishes to acknowledge the contributions of every scholar, government agencies, and individuals to the establishment of the Archives: professor Xia Zu-Zhuo (Lin Hai-yin’s son); professor Fan Ming-Ju of the National Chengchi University; National Academy for Educational Research; Taipei Chinese Center; Fisfisa Media; Grimm Press, Ltd.; Zhu You-xun; Fran Lee the English translator of this website; and finally, the team at NCHU - including professor Chiu Kuei-fen, assistants Hung Chien-mei, Hsu Kuo-ming, and Huang Chang-hui. 

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: Chiu Kuei-fen
Web content editor: Hung Chien-mei and Hsu Kuo-ming
Web designer: Yoong Jun-yao
English website translator: Fran Lee