Hong Kong author Ni Kuang (??), who was known throughout the Chinese-speaking world for his Wisely series of adventure-science fiction novels, died on Sunday at the age of 87.
Hong Kong media reported that Ni — the author of hundreds of novels and story collections and over 300 film scripts — had suffered from poor health and made few public appearances in recent years.
Born in Shanghai in 1935, Ni began working at age 16 as a public security official in Inner Mongolia under China’s Communist government.
At the age of 22, he was caught dismantling a wooden bridge to use as fuel amid a shortage of heating coal, and was sent to an isolated farm to do corrective labor.
After learning from a friend that he could be sentenced to death, Ni fled the farm, traveling across much of China before entering Hong Kong via Macau in a journey that would provide the material for his first book.
Beginning in the 1960s, Ni shot to fame with his Wisely series of novels, which follow the protagonist of the same name as he solves mysteries, many of which involve aliens or other supernatural beings.
He later wrote several other story sequences, including the popular Dr. Yuen series, and a number of wuxia novels, which were subsequently adapted for television and cinema.
In the media, Ni was often mentioned together with wuxia writer Jin Yong (??), lyricist James Wong (??), and columnist Chua Lam (??) as one of Hong Kong’s “four great talents” in the second half of the 20th century.
Due to his early experiences, Ni remained a lifelong opponent of China’s ruling Communist Party, which he said “strangely” seemed to be most popular with his wealthiest friends.
Later in life, when a friend tried to convince him to visit China and see how the party had changed, Ni replied that while “they may eat mutton with a knife and fork, in their essence, they remain unchanged.”
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel