Wang Xiaobo: A Voice of Love, Wit, and Authenticity
Wang Xiaobo (1952-1997) remains a significant and unique voice in modern Chinese literature, celebrated as a novelist, essayist, and enduring cultural icon. Even years after his untimely death, interest in his work persists, a phenomenon often referred to as the “Wang Xiaobo hot”. He is recognized for the wisdom, humor, and advocacy for freedom embedded in his writing, setting him apart in China’s literary landscape.
Many of his most beloved quotes on love come from his letters to his wife, the sociologist Li Yinhe. These letters, collected in the volume Ai Ni Jiu Xiang Ai Sheng Ming (爱你就像爱生命 – often translated as Loving You Like Loving Life), reveal a raw, passionate, and sometimes endearingly earnest side of Wang, complementing the intellectual rigor of his published works.
His unique blend of intellectual depth, emotional vulnerability, and sharp wit continues to resonate with readers seeking authenticity and thoughtful reflection on life and love.
Wang Xiaobo’s Reflections on Love
Here are the English translations of the ten poignant quotes about love you provided:
- “I give you my entire soul, along with its quirks, its tantrums, its flickering uncertainty, its eighteen hundred flaws. It’s truly annoying, yet it has one virtue: loving you.”
- “If you are willing, I will love you forever. If you are unwilling, I will long for you forever.”
- “Do you want to know what my love for you is? It’s liking you from the bottom of my heart, feeling that your every move is dear to me, being unhappy if you like others more than you like me. If you were to like someone else, I would cry, but I would still like you.”
- “I feel our love is like a candy jar, and we are like two children gathered around it, constantly discovering surprises inside.”
- “When I step over all that is sunken and decaying, and declare war on eternity, you are my battle standard.”
- “I’m not bad anymore; I have a conscience now. My conscience is you.”
- “I love you to the point of unselfishness. Like someone whose dove has flown from their hand, who blesses the dove’s flight from the heart.”
- “How formidable habit can be – just as people grow accustomed to air, fish to water, I have grown accustomed to loving you.”
- “I only wish for you and me to be close, without mutual suspicion, nor mutual praise, serene as ordinary days. May you speak to me as you speak to yourself, and I speak to you as I speak to myself. Tell me, will you be with me?”
- “You are an incredibly lovely person; you truly deserve to meet the best person possible, and I truly hope that person is me.”