Documenting a giant of literature

The series employs a nonlinear narrative to explore different facets of the writer's life, from his upbringing in a feudal patriarchal family, to his studies abroad and efforts to establish the country's most influential literary magazine Harvest.

Born into a wealthy family in Chengdu, Sichuan province, in 1904, Ba Jin — who was born as Li Yaotang — achieved literary acclaim with his debut novella Mie Wang (Destruction), which he published under his pen name of Ba Jin while studying in France in 1929.

Following the publication between 1933 and 1940 of his popular semi-biographical trilogy Current — comprising the novels Family, Spring, and Autumn — Ba Jin emerged as one of the most influential writers in the country. In 1960, he was appointed vice-chairman of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles.

Over the course of his decades-long career, he wrote 20 novels and novellas, 15 short stories, 37 essay collections, and undertook 20 translations. He died at the age of 101 in Shanghai in 2005.

For Wang, the process of making the documentary was akin to a journey back to student days, and gave him a deeper understanding of the literary icon beloved of generations of Chinese.

"I have become a devoted admirer of Ba Jin. His work documents the turbulence and transformation of an era, and captures the relentless pursuit of freedom, equality and human liberation, and serves as a testament to the times," Wang says.