Chronology of Ba Jin's Life

Bajin was born November, 1904 in the city of Chengdu, Sichuan, China

1904 Born in Chengdu, Sichuan provence.

1907 Family moves to Guangyüan, northern Sichuan.

1911 Family moves back to Chengdu.

1912 The Republic of China is established.

1914 Mother dies.

1917 Father dies.

1919 Grandfather dies. May Fourth Incident.

1923 Leaves Chengdu for Shanghai.

1925 May Thirtieth Incedent.

1927 Leaves for France. Purge of Communists in Shanghai.

1929 Publishes the novel Destruction.

1931 Eldest brother commits suicide; publishes the novel Family and other works; Japan attacks Manchuria.

1934- Lives in Japan.

1935

1937 The Marco Polo Bridge Incedent; Japan massively invades China.

1944 Marries Miss Chen Yun-zhen in Guiyang, Guizhou province.

1945 Japan surrenders; elder brother dies.

1949 Communist victory.

1952 Spends seven months in Korea.

1953 Visits Korea again after the Armistice.

1961 Visits Japan.

1962 Visits North Vietnam and Canton. His collected works published in fourteen volumes.

1966 Purged during the Cultural Revolution.

1975 Nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature.

1977 "Revived" on Mainland China.

1978 Elected a deputy to the National People's Congress.

1981 Elected chairman of the Chinese Writer's Association.

1986 Honorary President China Literature Foundation.

2000 Nominated to compete for the 2001 Nobel Literature Prize.

2005 Died on October 17, 2005.