Li Yongping
Chronology
1947: Born in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo, a British crown colony at the time.
1951: Entered Malaysian SRB Chung Hua No. 4 Elementary.
1958: Studied in SRB Chung Hua No. 4 Elementary, S.J.K Chung Hua Batu 7 MaTang School, and Saint Paul School.
1959: Studied in Chung Hua Middle School No. 2.
1962: Studied in Kuching English High, and after graduation, taught at Saint Luke High.
1966: Short story “Son of Borneo” 〈婆羅洲之子〉 won the literary first prize from the Borneo Literature Bureau.
1967: Went to Taiwan and studied at the National Taiwan University, Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures.
1968: Short story “A Dayak Woman” 〈拉子婦〉published in The Intellectual. The story received praise from YAN Yuanshu.
1969: “A Lazi Woman” was chosen for Selected Short Stories in the Year Fifty-Seven (1968).
1971: Graduated from college in June and became a teaching assistant at the NTU Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures until 1976.
1972: Published short story “Tian Lulu” 〈田露露〉. Became an editor at Chung-Wai Literary Monthly.
1973: Translated Naturalism by Lilian Furst into Chinese, published by Liming Publishing House, Taipei.
1974: Translated “The Woman Who Wasn’t Allowed to Keep Cats” and “Dead Roses” from the play The Burnt Ones by Patrick White into Chinese, published by Huaxin Publishing House, Taipei.
1975: Translated The Last Picture Show by Larry McMurtry into Chinese, published by Huaxin Publishing House, Taipei.
1976: “A Lazi Woman” is translated into English and published in An Anthology of Contemporary Chinese Literature. Went to pursue a M.A. degree in Comparative Literature at State University of New York at Albany in the United States.
1978: Received his Master degree in Comparative Literature at State University of New York at Albany, and went to pursue a Ph.D. degree in Comparative Literature at Washington University in St. Louis. Published short stories, “Returning Home,” 〈歸來〉 “In Great Blessings Lane, “〈萬福巷裏〉and “Sun Showers” 〈日頭雨〉in United Daily News Literary Supplement. Short story “Returning Home” won the United Daily News Literature Prize. Translated Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach into Chinese, published by China Times Publishing House, Taipei.
1979: Short story “Sun Showers” won the United Daily News Literature Prize. Published a short story “The Story of An Idiot”〈白痴記〉(later known as “Red Sky Ballad”) in Daily News Literary Supplement. Translated “Aegean Melancholy” and other poems by Odysseus Elytis into Chinese, published in United Daily News Literary Supplement t.
1980: Translated The Collected Poems of Odysseus Elytis, published in Daily News Literary Supplement. Translated “Gift,” “So Little” and other poems and essays by Czeslaw Milosz into Chinese, published in United Daily News Literary Supplement. Published short stories “Scattering Flowers” 〈散花〉and “Lamp” 〈燈〉in United Daily News Literary Supplement.
1982: Received his Ph.D. degree in Comparative Literature at Washington University in St. Louis. Went back to Taiwan and began to teach as an associate professor in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literature at National Sun Yat-sen University until 1987. Published short story “ Eleven’s Mother” 〈十一他娘〉in United Daily News Literary Supplement.
1983: Published short story “Night in a Desolate Town”〈荒城之夜〉 in United Daily News Literary Supplement.
1984: Published short stories “A Wonderful Spring Rain,” 〈好一片春雨〉 “Flood,” 〈大水〉 and “Yearning” 〈思考〉in United Daily News Literary Supplement.
1985: Published short stories “Flowers Rain from the Sky”〈滿天春雨〉in United Daily News Literary Supplement, the last chapter of The Jiling Chronicles 《吉陵春秋》.
1986: Published novel The Jiling Chronicles《吉陵春秋》. Became a senior Chinese editor of US News & World Report. The Jiling Chronicles won China Times Literature Prize.
1987: Left National Sun Yat-sen University and devoted time in writing. Became a Taiwanese citizen and relinquished his status as a Malaysian citizen.
1989: LI’s mother passed away. Started writing his long novel The Eagle Haidong Qing 《海東青》and published series of this novel in United Daily News Literary Supplement.
1992: Published long novel The Eagle Haidong Qing 《海東青. Began to teach in the Department of English Language and Literature at Soochow University until 1999. Published essay “The Fortieth Year of Exodus- Writing The Eagle Haidong Qing 〈出埃及第四十年─我写「海东青」〉 in United Daily News Literary Supplement.
1994: Translated Mutant Message Down Under by Marlo Morgan into Chinese, published by Zhiku Wenhua Publishing House, Taipei.
1995: Translated Roommates: My Grandfather Story by Max Apple into Chinese, published by Zhiku Wenhua Publishing House, Taipei. Translated The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield into Chinese, published by Yuanliu Publishing House, Taipei.
1996: Translated The Solitaire Mystery by Jostein Gaarder into Chinese, published by Zhiku Wenhua Publishing House, Taipei. Published “Dance with A Shackle on-Review of Wu Jiwen Fin-de-siècle Youth Love Reader 〈戴著枷鎖起舞─簡評吳繼文《世纪末少年愛讀本》〉, published in Unitas.
1997: Published short story “My Year”〈我的年〉in United Daily News Literary Supplement. Translated The Quest for the Corporate Soul by Albert Koopman, and The Tenth Insight: Holding the Vision by James Redfield into Chinese, published by Yuanliu Publishing House, Taipei. Translated Fingerprints of the Gods by Graham Hancock into Chinese, published by Xianzhi Publishing House, Taipei.
1998: Published long novel Zhu Ling’s Adventures in Wonderland《朱鴒漫遊仙境》. Translated The Wheel of Life—-A Memoir of Living and Dying by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross into Chinese, published by Tianxia Yuanjian Publishing House, Taipei. Published short story “Long –cherished Wish” 〈宿願〉in Chung-Wai Literary Monthly.
1999: Translated The Celestine Vision by James Redfield into Chinese, published by Yuanliu Publishing House, Taipei.
Translated The Singing Wilderness by Sigurd. F. Olson into Chinese, published by Xianjue Publishing House, Taipei.
Translated A Bend in the River by V. S Naipaul into Chinese, published by Tianxia Yuanjian Publishing House, Taipei.
Novel Jiling Chronicles was chosen to be one of the best Chinese novels in the 20th century by Asia Weekly.
Published short story “Meeting Chiang Kai-shek the First Time ” 〈初遇蔣公〉in United Daily News Literary Supplement.
2000: Began to teach in Graduate Institute of Creative Writing and English Literature at National Dong Hwa University.
Translated Elegy for Iris by John Bayley and An Area of Darkness by V. S Naipaul into Chinese, published by Tianxia Yuanjian Publishing House, Taipei.
Translated The Invitation by Mountain Dreamer into Chinese, published by Shuangyue Shuwu Publishing House, Taipei.
Translated First Person Plural by Cameron West, published by Xidai Publishing House, Taipei.
Translated Morality Play by Barry Unsworth into Chinese, published by Xianjue Publishing House, Taipei.
Published short stories “Sonya” 〈桑妮亞〉and “The first Stone” 〈第一顆石頭〉 in United Daily News Literary Supplement.
2001: Published short stories “Little Sister Cui Ti,”〈翠堤小妹子〉“Shina,”〈支那〉 and “The Death of A Guerrilla Troop”〈一個游擊隊的死〉 in United Daily News Literary Supplement.
2002: Published novel The Snow Falls in Clouds: Recollections of A Borneo Childhood《雨雪霏霏：婆羅洲童年記事》.
Translated How to Read and Why by Harold Bloom into Chinese, published by Times Culture Publishing House, Taipei.
2003: Published essay “Karma of Written Words”〈文字因緣〉in United Daily News Literary Supplement.
Published collection of essays Roaming: Li Yongping Self Collection 1968-2002《𨑨迌：李永平自選集1968-2002》. It provides a window to LI’s literary world and reveals the journey of his writing career.
Jiling Chronicles is translated into English and published by Columbia University Press.
2004: Published short story “Longing” 〈憧憬〉in Wenxun.
Published short story “Burnt Offering·Havoc·Memory” 〈燔祭．浩劫．記憶〉in United Daily News Literary Supplement.
2006: Translated The Brooklyn Follies by Paul Auster into Chinese, published by Tianxia Yuanjian Publishing House, Taipei.
2008: On leave from National Dong Hwa University and focused on writing the second series of his Borneo Trilogy, The End of the River.
Published short story “Summoning the Spirits·Zhu Ling·Returning Home!” 〈招魂，朱鴒，歸來！〉in Yinke Wenxue Shenghuozhi.
Published novel The End of the River-Volume One: Upstream Voyage《大河盡頭 （上卷）：溯流》.
2009: Novel The End of the River-Volume One: Upstream Voyage won the prize of “2008 Books of the Year Award” and was chosen for the number one novel in “The Top Ten World Chinese Novels in the year of 2008” by Asia Weekly.
2010: Published novel The End of the River-Volume Two: Mountain《大河盡頭 （下卷）：山. Novel The End of the River-Volume One: Upstream Voyage won the prize of “The Dream of the Red Chamber Award” for the “World Chinese Long Novel Category.”
2011: Novel The End of the River-Volume Two: Mountain won the prize of “Golden Tripod Literary Award.”
2015: Novel Stories of Zhu Ling 《朱鴒書》by Maitian Publishing House, Taipei.
2016: Started publishing chapters of A New Story of Female Knights 《新俠女圖》in Wenhsun Monthly Journal.
2017: Passed away in September 22 due to complications caused by cancer. Unfinished martial arts novel, A New Story of Female Knights 《新俠女圖》
