A century of experience
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Yang's Baptism became immensely popular after it was published for its depictions of the psyche of intellectuals at that time.
Shi Zhecun, a writer and senior literature critic, likes Baptism so much that he regards it as "a combination of A Dream of Red Mansions and The Scholars (by Wu Jingzi)" for depicting a complicated picture of life and intellectual circles at that time. Some critics even said the novel is better than Fortress Besieged, written by Yang's famed writer husband Qian Zhongshu (married 1935-98), in terms of illustrating the ridiculous side of intellectuals during that period.
According to the People's Literature Publishing House's Liu Xin, Yang began writing the sequel in 2009 when she was 98 years old and kept revising the work untill this April when she handed it in to the publishing house.
For readers who want more of her work, a revised and updated version of the collection of Yang's complete works, nine volumes in total and also containing the new book, is also out for the readers.
The new collection is based on the eight-volume version of the collection published in 2004 when Yang was 93. Over the past decade, this prolific author has never stopped writing, publishing several collections of short stories and essays.
"Yang has never forgot about the duty as an intellectual. She persists in translating and writing and never stops thinking," said Zhou Xuanlong, vice editor in chief of the publishing house, as quoted by Beijing Youth Daily.
Major events in the life of Yang Jiang
1935: Yang studies in Britain and France.
1938: Yang begins teaching as a professor at Tsinghua University.
1933-1934: Yang's plays Satisfactory, Pretence Becomes Reality and Playing the Field performed in Shanghai.
1953: Yang becomes a research fellow at Peking University, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences for literature research.
1956: Yang's translation of Alain Rene Lesage's The Adventures of Gil Blas of Santillane published.
1978: Yang's translation of Don Quixote published.
1981: Yang publishes Six Chapters from My Life 'Downunder,' an account of her time in a reform camp during the Cultural Revolution (1966-76).
1985: English version of essay collection Invisible Cloak published.
1986: Yang publishes Recalling my Father, Recalling my Aunt and A Note about Qian Zhongshu and Fortress Besieged.
1992: French version of Baptism published in Paris.
2003: Yang publishes We Three.
2004: Eight volume collection of Yang's works published.
2007: Yang publishes Reaching to the Brink of Life.
2011: Yang publishes Sitting on the Brink of Life.
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