Li Yaotang is considered to be one of the most important and widely-read Chinese writers in the 20th century. He wrote under the pen name of Ba Jin. Ba Jin started writing his first work in the late 1920s. Li was born in Chengdu. He was born in a rich family of officials. As a child, Li was taught to read and write first by his mother. In 1920, Li entered Chengdu Foreign Language School to study English. Three years later, Li moved to Shanghai and then studied there. In 1927, he went to Paris with his friend for further study. After returning to Shanghai in 1928, Ba Jin continued writing and working on translation. His first novel came out in 1929. Then he wrote a lot of famous novels during ten years. Most of Ba Jin's works could be easily understood by anyone with high school education, which made him one of the easiest modern Chinese writers. Ba Jin died of cancer in Shanghai at the age of 101. His death marked the end of a century for Chinese literature. He was one of the masters of language like Lao She.
