Ping Lu


Lu Ping, born in Kaohsiung in 1953, is a Taiwanese writer who writes under the pen name Ping Lu. Her writing encompasses a broad range of genres, including novels, essays, poems, commentary, and theater plays. She is also known in the Chinese-language world for her critique of social phenomenon, ranging from cultural development to gender issues and human rights. Over the past two decades, Ms. Lu has successfully established herself as a prominent novelist, columnist, and commentator in Taiwan.
Ping Lu, born Lu Ping in Kaohsiung, is the recipient of many major literary awards, including National Award for Arts 「國家文藝獎」, Taiwan Literature Award for Books 金典獎, and Golden Tripod Awards for Publications「金鼎獎」. Holding a B.A. in psychology from National Taiwan University and an M.A. in statistics from the University of Iowa, she has served as editor of China Times 「《中國時報》」 and part-time instructor of journalism at National Taiwan University. From 2003 to 2009 she was Taiwan's ambassador at large and Chairperson of the Kwang Hwa Information and Culture Center in Hong Kong. An accomplished writer, novelist, and columnist, she has authored many books since 1984, including short-story collections Death in a Cornfield《玉米田之死》and Monica's Diary《蒙妮卡日記》, novels Taiwan Trilogy—East & Beyond《東⽅之東》, ILHA Formosa《婆娑之島》, and, Passing《夢魂之地》, and essay collections Heart Mandala《袒露的心》, The Gaps《間隙》.
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Background

Ms. Lu graduated from the Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University, and gained a master's degree from the University of Iowa. While working as a statistician in the United States, she won first prize with her short story "Death in a Cornfield" in the 1983 United Daily News fiction competition. Her other works also won her many prizes, including a prize in prose and a prize in dramatic composition. In 2002, she published a novel about the death of a famous Taiwanese singer Teresa Teng entitled "When Will You Come Again?".

Literary Awards

Wu San-lien Literary Award「吳三連獎文學獎」, 2016
The Golden Tripod Awards for Publications 「金鼎獎」, 2018, for the book Heart Mandala《袒露的心》
The 22th National Award for Arts 「國家文藝獎」, 2021
Taiwan Literature Award for Books 「金典獎」, 2021, for the book The Gaps《間隙》

Literary works

Of her literary works, "Love and Revolution" attracted the most attention. Ms. Lu re-imagines the lives of Sun Yat-sen and Soong Ching-ling, a legendary couple in modern China. She not only explores their marital relations, including their failings and desires, but also mentions Sun Yat-sen's political career and Soong Ching-ling's feelings of isolation and loneliness after her husband died. As Perry Link pointed out in his article entitled "Chinese Shadows", Ms. Lu also tries to find in Soong Ching-ling "the person buried under all the layers of image-making" and to "reconstruct a credible portrait" of the famous woman. He also said Ms. Lu "succeeds in showing the ordinary and sometimes repugnant details of Qingling's life," and that she "may or may not be accurate about Qingling's inner life, but she certainly writes with honesty and with penetration."
Her more recent works includes fiction "The River Darkens" and autobiographical essays collection "Heart Mandala".

Ambassador at Large

Prior to becoming the director of Kwang Hwa Information and Cultural Center in January 2003, Ms. Lu had worked as an editorial writer for The China Times, spent many years lecturing on such subjects as feminism, cultural criticism, and news commentary at National Taiwan University and Taipei National University of the Arts, and served as ambassador-at-large for Taiwan for a few years.
Ms. Lu left her post in Kwang Hwa Information and Cultural Center in December 2009, but is continuously promoting cultural and economical exchanges between Taiwan and Hong Kong.
She is currently the chairman of Radio Taiwan International.

Novels

《何日君再來》（印刻出版社，2002）
  • East & Beyond《東方之東》, Taipei: UNITAS Publishing 聯合文學, 2011; New Taipei City: ECUS Publishing 木馬文化, 2024 new edition.
  • ILHA Formosa《婆娑之島》, Taipei: Business Weekly Publishing 商周出版社, 2012; New Taipei City: ECUS Publishing 木馬文化, 2024 new edition.
  • The River Darkens《黑水》, Paper, Taipei: Linking Publishing 聯經出版社 / E-book, Taipei: ohreading.com 群星文化, 2015.
  • Taiwan Trilogy「平路台灣三部曲」—East & Beyond《東⽅之東》, ILHA Formosa《婆娑之島》, and Passing《夢魂之地》, New Taipei City: ECUS Publishing 木馬文化, 2024.

Collections of Short Stories

  • Death in a Cornfield《玉米田之死》, Taipei: Linking Publishing 聯經出版社, 1985; New Taipei City: INK Publishing 印刻, 2003 new edition.
  • The Fifth Seal《五印封緘》, Taipei: Linking Publishing 聯經出版社, 1988; New Taipei City: INK Publishing 印刻, 2004 new edition.
  • Spy Catchers《捕諜人》, Co-authored with Chang Hsi-kuo 張系國. Taipei: Hongfan Bookstore 洪範書店, 1992.
  • Revelations of banned books《禁書啟示錄》. Taipei: Rye Field Publishing 麥田出版社, 1997.
  • Letters of One Hundred Years《百齡箋》. Taipei: UNITAS Publishing 聯合文學出版社, 1998; 2009 second edition.
  • Five Paths Through A Dusty World《紅塵五注》. Taipei: Crown Publishing 皇冠出版社, 1989; Taipei: UNITAS Publishing 聯合文學出版社, 1998 new edition.
  • Ningzhi Hot Spring《凝脂溫泉》. Taipei: UNITAS Publishing 聯合文學出版社, 2000; 2009 second edition.
  • Monica's Diary《蒙妮卡日記》. Taipei: UNITAS Publishing 聯合文學出版社, 2011; 2022 new edition.

Collections of Essays

  • 《巫婆之七味湯》（聯合文學出版社，1999）
  • 《我凝視》（聯合文學出版社，2002）
  • 《讀心之書》（聯合文學，2004）
  • 《平路精選集》（九歌出版社，2005）
  • 《浪漫不浪漫》（聯合文學，2007）
  • 《香港已成往事》（牛津出版公司，2009）
  • Heart Mandala《袒露的心》. Taipei: China Times Publishing 時報出版, 2017; 2021 audio edition.
  • The Gaps《間隙：寫給受折磨的你》. Taipei: China Times Publishing 時報出版, 2020; 2021 audio edition.

Collections of Critical Essays

  • 《到底是誰聒噪》（當代出版社，1988）
  • 《在世界裡遊戲》（圓神出版社，1989）
  • 《非沙文主義》（唐山出版社，1991）
  • 《女人權利》（聯合文學，1998）
  • 《愛情女人》（聯合文學，1998）

Plays

  • Who Killed XXX?《是誰殺了XXX》. Taipei: Eurasian Press 圓神出版社, 1990.

Works Published in The Taipei Chinese PEN Quarterly

  • "Death In A Cornfield" 玉米田之死, tr. Chang Jun-Mei Chou 周張潤梅, 54 1–30.
  • "East of the East, Part I" 東方之东, tr. Adela Jeng 鄭秀瑕, 165 41.
  • "East of the East, Part II" 東方之东, tr. Adela Jeng 鄭秀瑕, 166 55–76.
  • "Five Paths Through the Dusty World" 紅塵五注, tr. Daniel J. Bauer 鮑端磊, 84 37–48.
  • "The Fifth Seal" 五印封緘, tr. Nancy Du 杜南馨, 88 40–66.
  • "The Legend of Master Hau" 郝大師傳奇, tr. Nancy Du 杜南馨, 92 33–64.
  • "Wedding Date" 婚期, tr. Sylvia Li-Chun Lin 林麗君, 135 36–57.
  • "Chronicles of Artificial Intelligence" 人工智慧紀事, tr. Sterling Swallow 師德霖, 208 7–31