Bai Xianyong, or Pai Hsien-yung as his name is spelled in the Wade-Giles style, has been a leading light of Taiwanese literature for decades. His works including "Taipei People" and "The Crystal Boys" have been landmarks of Taiwanese fiction, and in addition he has produced important works of history and criticism.
What is sometimes insufficiently appreciated, particularly outside of Taiwan, is how the writer that Bai Xianyong came to be substantially depended on the man that his father was: General Bai Chongxi, one of the most interesting figures of Republican China, and a forgotten hero of the Second World War...
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