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Then, Ba was mainly renowned for the "Jiliu trilogy" --The Family, The Spring and The Autumn,which shed light on ancient feudal society. With the traditional Chinese family structure as his target, the novels depicted the struggles and tragedies, love and hatred of the young generation in a saga of family decline, and were enormously popular with Chinese youth at the time and throughout the century, encouraging them to get rid of the old patriarchal clan system and seek self-realization. As a result, a great many young people devoted themselves to revolution.�

The Familyof the trilogy, especially, has been seen as a masterpiece of his as well as one the most outstanding work in China's modern literature. Due to its deep exploration into the complexity and depression of the big traditional family, the novel has inspired many film or TV directors. In fact, many of Ba's works areirreplaceable in terms of literary meaning, such asDestruction, Love Trilogy, and The Cold Night.

The Jiliu Trilogy

UnlikeLu Xun's indignation or Mao Dun's penetration (both are outstanding figures in China's modern literature history), Ba's passion and strong eagerness for the shock of young people have made him the best symbol of the "5.4" youth spirit.

The second period was from 1978 to 1986 when the Cultural Revolution when his five-volumeRandom Thoughtscame out. After 10 miserable years, he regained human dignity and freedom of expression, called for humanitarian, accused others of atrocity and reflected upon his own flaccidity. His five-volumeRandom Thoughts,a memoir on the culture revolution, was his masterpiece during this period as well as his major contribution to the "new time" culture. Some of the short essays within it are still reminding Chinese intellectuals to remember history and stick to innate ability. His works at this period showed his aspiration for an open and free society.

During the first period, Ba's works encouraged people to smash the shackles of old conventions and seek emancipation from unfair and unreasonable social order. His works in the second period were mostly reflections upon the Cultural Revolution and the past political movements, putting forward another concept of "emancipation of human beings." It is his constant exploration and expression of human beings' pursuit that makes Ba an inspiring and passionate writer.