Bai Xianyong talks about his father Bai Chongxi respecting his sexuality. Is this really the case?

Bai Xianyong is a writer with very personal characteristics. He loved Kun Opera and was good at writing. He wrote many books throughout his life and had a strong sense of identity with traditional Chinese culture. Moreover, he also had a different sexual orientation than ordinary people. Regarding his sexual orientation, he once publicly stated that his father Bai Chongxi probably knew about it, but he fully respected Bai Xianyong's choice.

Young Bai Xianyong

Bai Xianyong’s father, Bai Chongxi, is a senior general of the Chinese Kuomintang. There are too many things in his life that are worthy of being told and remembered. As an adult, Bai Xianyong once wrote a book Recording every detail about his father in his works is a memory of a special historical period, and it is also Bai Xianyong's memory of his father.

Bai Chongxi is known as "Little Zhuge" and is one of the representatives of the Xingui clique of warlords during the Republic of China. His life, to paraphrase Bai Xianyong, is about "two things are not mutually exclusive", although he followed Chiang Kai-shek. Mr. Bai went to Taiwan, but in Bai Chongxi's heart, this did not represent his political stance. The reason why he went to Taiwan was just to be loyal to his beliefs.

Bai Xianyong is the eighth eldest son in the family. He was born in Guilin, Guangxi on July 11, 1937. His childhood was a time of wandering around, which also influenced Bai Xianyong’s future creations. had a huge impact.

In the earliest days, Bai Xianyong lived in Guilin. He witnessed that "Guilin's landscapes are the best in the world", so he developed a "Guilin complex". In his heart, the seven years in Guilin were the best in his memory. childhood pictures.

Bai Xianyong has lived in Guilin almost since he was born. It was not until the Hunan-Guangxi retreat in 1944 that Bai Xianyong left Guilin with his parents, and then went to Chongqing, Shanghai, Nanjing and other places. Bai Xianyong’s boyhood in Chongqing is an indelible memory in his life. If "Guilin complex" represents Bai Xianyong's childhood, then "Bashu complex" represents Bai Xianyong's boyhood.

Bai Xianyong contracted tuberculosis when he was seven years old. He was unable to go to school like his other brothers and sisters in the family and could only study at home alone. He stayed in Chongqing for three years. Whenever he walked on the road, he would see many air-raid shelters. These were traces of the pain caused by the war, and they also strengthened Bai Xianyong's love for the great mountains and rivers of his motherland.

This sentiment will be reflected in Bai Xianyong's future works, large and small. He wrote his feelings into the book, describing his love for the nation and motherland, and his love for the nation and motherland. That overwhelming nostalgia.

In 1948, Bai Xianyong moved his family to Hong Kong, and then to Taiwan in 1952. Based on his love for the beautiful mountains and rivers of his motherland, Bai Xianyong's first choice in the college entrance examination was water conservancy engineering. However, he found that his interests did not match his interests the following year, so he transferred to the Department of Foreign Literature at National Taiwan University.

After that, Bai Xianyong concentrated on his creative career and published many novels. Until 1962, after his mother passed away, he ended his filial piety and prepared to study in the United States. However, no one expected that... The farewell sent by his father Bai Chongxi turned out to be the last time the father and son saw each other. On December 2, 1966, Bai Chongxi passed away, and father and son were separated forever.

Many years later, when Bai Xianyong talked about his father, he talked about those old events and mentioned his sexual orientation. He said that his father had always known about his sexual orientation, but he did not object fiercely. On the contrary, he showed respect.

Sexuality and Father and Son

In 1983, Bai Xianyong published the novel "Evil Son". This book focuses on a special group-the homosexual group. The protagonist Li Qingyin in the book A series of incidents that occurred when he was exiled from his family and school due to his sexual orientation and wandered in the park, which reflected the living conditions of this group in society and family in Taiwan at that time. As the author, Bai Xianyong is also a member of this group.

In the later interview, Bai Xianyong expressed his psychological world gently when faced with the host's questions. The host asked him how his father Bai Chongxi would react if he saw "Evil Son". Bai Xianyong responded to the host gently. He said he thought his father would be shocked, but he knew about his sexuality.

Strictly speaking, "Evil Son" is not Bai Xianyong's first work about this group. Before that, he had written some books about homosexuality. Perhaps it is due to parents' intuition about their children, or perhaps it is the foreshadowing of previous works. Bai Xianyong said that his parents probably knew about his sexual orientation, but both parents chose not to reveal it. They maintained good interactions with each other and would not bring it up. They just pretended not to know and were considerate of each other.

Bai Xianyong is grateful to his father Bai Chongxi. This gratitude is his father's respect for himself. Bai Chongxi's attitude towards him gave him confidence in his future life, instead of becoming a shrinking man with low self-esteem.

Bai Xianyong was recommended to the university due to his excellent grades, but in the end he chose to start over due to personal preferences, and his father did not blame him too much. Perhaps this is the respect and unconditional trust a father has for his son, even if his behavior seems absurd and unruly to outsiders.

When Bai Xianyong became successful in the literary world, his father Bai Chongxi had read some of his works, but he had never been a person of appreciation because he respected knowledge and culture and fully agreed and supported it. My son is engaged in cultural creation. In addition, Bai Chongxi also built several schools in order to allow more children to study.

When Bai Xianyong talks about his father’s respect for culture, he feels great. Bai Chongxi gave silently without expecting anything in return. The reason why he cared so much about culture was because of his unfortunate childhood experience.

Bai Xianyong said that his father's childhood was not happy, and the poor family background was not enough to support the whole family's children's education, so the whole family supported him to go to school alone. But the people at that time were ignorant, the country customs were ignorant, and they were unable to realize the importance of learning.

One time, a relative of Bai Chongxi said that it was useful to study and become an apprentice. It was this sentence that made him remember it for the rest of his life. Therefore, when Bai Chongxi gained the ability, he wanted to give back to his hometown and help more children change their destiny through learning.

The father-son relationship between Bai Xianyong and Bai Chongxi is so harmonious, and Bai Chongxi can respect Bai Xianyong's sexual orientation, which may have a lot to do with his childhood. The young Bai Chongxi has seen everything and has a broad mind through constant experience. Perhaps for him, Bai Xianyong's sexual orientation will not affect his love for his motherland and hometown, nor will it affect the deep love between them. Father-son love.

Bai Xianyong did not live up to Bai Chongxi’s expectations. Bai Chongxi’s full support and respect for culture were realized in his son Bai Xianyong. As for Bai Xianyong, his different sexual orientation may cause some controversy, but this does not affect his excellence. He naturally has the spirit of a scholar in his bones.