After the conclusion of the Second World War, yang resumed his literary activities, establishing the journal Yi Yang Zhou Bao , and served as editors of serveral newspaper literary columns before his arrest by the Nationalist government in 1950 because of his leftist sympathies.

     Yang Kui has become a major literary figure in Taiwan; he has also been internationally recognized for his work. After the first printing of his story "The Newspaper Boy" in the leftist Japanese journal Bungaku Hyron in 1934, the story was reprinted in Chinese (in both mainland China and in Taiwan) a total of six times. Yang Kui's work is included in nearly every anthology of Taiwanese literature of the Japanese occupation period. In 1982 he was invited by the International Writing Program of the Univeristy of Iowa to visit the United States for three months.

     I chose to translate Yang Kui's "The Newspaper Boy" from Chinese primarily because of its acceptance as a work of Chinese literature by a Taiwanese, having both literary and historical importance. While his work cannot be labelled as typical of the Taiwanese writers of this period, Yang Kui has become a prominent figure in the sphere of modern Taiwanese fiction. In translating "The Newspaper Boy" I have attempted to present the reader with a smooth, easily read version of the story without distorting the author's original meaning. Fiction, after all, is written with the intent to present a story to an audience in a manner that constitutes a pleasurable experience for the readers.

     Of the seven versions of "The Newspaper Boy" that have been published, I have examined four. The 1979 and 1975 editions of the story are identical ( Guangfu Qian Taiwan Quanji, Wang Mama Chu Jia ) whereas the 1963 and 1936 editions (You Shi Wenyi and Shan Ling: Chaoxian Taiwan Duanpian Ji) are slightly different. The most striking differences in the Chinese editions of "The Newspaper Boy" appear between the most recent editions (1975, 1979) and the 1936 translation by Hu Feng.

     Hu Feng's edition of "The Newspaper Boy" seems to have been heavily editied. Place names (of the Newspaper Dispatch, etc.) are omitted; the young protagonist's nationality is not mentioned until the middle of the story; numerous scenes of interior monologues regarding Mr. Yang's personal ambitions to become a success - - to pursue higher education are omitted; and scenes describing Mr. Yang's emotional state are also largely omitted.

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