劉曉楓

這一代的怕和愛 (The Fear and Love of This Generation),
by Liu Xiaofeng, 1996, San Lian Books.

This is a collection of short articles previously published individually, mostly on the scholarly magazine 讀書 (Reading).

The pieces that I have managed to finish are hard to read. One reason is his inadequate language skills. The flow is far from smooth and vivid. A second reason is his occasional use of imported terms which obviously have not become natural Chinese.

He has some revealing accounts of armed fight (and death of young students) in Chongqing (重慶) during the (later part of?) Cultural Revolution, in the piece 記戀冬妮婭 (In memory of Don Ni Ya).

I saw him once on a seminar he gave at PKU around 1993. It was in a staircased classroom, but I can't recall which one. The room including the walkways were filled. He was introduced by professor Yue Daiyun (樂黛雲). My impression of him was quite a charming scholar focused on unworldly thinking. He spoke well. I think at one point he mentioned that he spent eight years in Switzerland studying theology.