Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Was this the same Lin Haiyin?

A certain Lin Haiyin was mentioned in Yvonne Chang's book, and was described as the chief editor of the literary supplement of Taiwan's United Daily News (联合报) from 1953 to 1962.

This particular Lin was said to be widely regarded as the person most responsible for bringing about the revival of literary supplements in Taiwan newspapers.

Lin had also reportedly half-jokingly remarked that she was chosen for the job because she spoke Mandarin with an impeccable Beijing accent.

Brought up in Beijing, her linguistic ability was certainly useful, but her ethnic origin was said to be equally valuable.

Chang wrote: "It was to the advantage of the Nationalists as minority rulers to include sympathetic native Taiwanese in their cultural bureaucracy. Being female was also a plus, since cultural policies conceived within a harsh political reality might be softened somewhat by a feminine facade of gentleness and benevolence, which partly explains the high percentage of women editors at the time."

"In addition, Lin possessed a dynamic personality, resourcefulness, and disarming forthrightness, enabling her to establish extensive networks of cultural agents and to mediate between them and the government."

Was this the same Lin Haiyin (林海音) who wrote the book "cheng nan jiu shi" (城南旧事) ? Was she a native Taiwanese who grew up in Beijing, hence her "impeccable Beijing accent"?

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