Finding a new path
Author Annie Baby explores different lifestyles with latest book
For many people in their 20s and 30s who like literature in China, the name Annie Baby (Li Jie) is almost synonymous with decadence, melancholy, loneliness and the isolation of youth.
However her new book Unprecedented Gains, published by Thinkingdom House, represents a more peaceful and mild side that the author seldom showed in her previous works. Along with the new book, comes her new pen name Qing Shan (celebrating mountain), making it seem like the 40-year-old writer is saying goodbye to an earlier period of her life.
Another life
Despite her fame, Annie Baby has been living a relatively low key life these past years, only appearing in public very rarely. Therefore it came as a surprise to many when she announced on her Sina Weibo that she was changing her pen name and later actually showed up at a press conference – a first for the solitary author –to promote her book.
The first work the author has published under the name Qing Shan, Unprecedented Gains is a book about a journey and the exploration of different lifestyles in China today.
The story covers the lives of four people: a cook who loves painting, a photographer returning to the countryside with his wife and children, a young monk who practices Tibetan Buddhism through poetry and painting, and an old woman who has dedicated her life to playing the Chinese stringed instrument known as the guqin.
According to Annie Baby, the book has its origins in a trip she took during the second half of 2013. Setting off from Beijing, she traveled all across the southern part of China before turning back up to Northwest China’s Gansu Province, encountering these four people along the way.
“Although their identities, ages and experiences are all different, these four people do have something in common: They chose a new direction for themselves and once their mind was made up they remained persistent,” Annie Baby said at the press conference.
The author’s book does not try to point out any specific lifestyle people should adhere to, but by telling the stories of these four people, she provides examples of people who have escaped the set pattern life had given them and began to live life as they wished.
“There are no specific suggestions or guidance in the book, but it can provide some enlightenment for people confused by busy city life,” Lin Nina, the book’s editor, told the Global Times.
For example, Wei Bi is a photographer who made the decision at 40 to return to his home village in Hunan Province after living in the big city for over 20 years. Now he lives the life of a farmer, planting trees and vegetables, with his mother, wife and child while also earning some extra income with his photos. “Life is short and precious, and I had become tired of city life a long time ago,” Wei explains in the book.
“He made a decision, and the important thing is, he is sure about the decision he made is the right one,” Annie Baby said.
She explained that this pursuit of a different lifestyle has little to do with success in the normal sense, “I didn’t focus on their achievements while writing the book. That wasn’t my angle.”
Changing with time
Many regard the era of cyber literature in the mainland as starting with Taiwanese author Tsai Chih-heng, who got famous overnight with his novel The First Intimate Contact in 1998. From that moment on, cyber literature began gaining increasing amounts of attention.
During this time, many pioneers of cyber literature in China such as Ning Caishen (Chen Wanning), Li Xunhuan (Lu Jinbo) and Annie Baby gradually built their fame on the Internet; until the later appearance of Mu Zi Mei and her erotic literature in 2003 ended up making cyber literature the center of controversy.
In 1998 Annie Baby hit it big with her online novel Goodbye Vivian. However, like many other cyber literature authors such as Chen, now a popular screenwriter, and Lu, now a publisher, she gradually moved away from Internet publication. Turning to traditional channels she later published a collection of short novels as part of the Goodbye Vivian series, the novels Other Shore Flower and Spring Banquet, and several books of collected essays such as Blank in Sleep and Plain and Beautiful Time. She was listed at No.5 on the China Writers Rich List 2011 with annual earnings of $1.5 million.
Showing the dark and ruthless side of city life her early works mainly focused on people living at the edges of urban society and were rampant with decadence, crime, suicide and insane entanglements between characters.
Over the years, her writing began to experience subtle changes. Compared to her early works that indulge in dark narration, her essay collections appear more peaceful and controlled.
This change continues in Unprecedented Gains. According to literature critic Zhi An, her new book has removed itself from the ruthless world of her previous works and has become a more well-meaning work. Meanwhile, readers have said that the book appears to be a little bit Zen in its philosophy.
“This has something to do with my experiences and understanding about life. When I was young, I had a strong sense of right and wrong and would attack things that I regarded as bad or false. But after experiencing some things… you find that everything is equal in the world. What I mean by that is that there is no definite right or wrong,” Annie Baby said.
Her recent decision to change her pen name has many readers assuming that she would change the way she wrote. However, she stressed that her writing style was not going to experience any sudden changes. “Annie Baby is a part of me. She will never disappear. I’m just doing something new with her as the foundation,” she said.