"Since I was 3 years old, I have been destined to countless hardships and eternal darkness, so you might ask how can I be happy as I grow older. But I am like a frolicking stream, dancing through the banks of hardship and darkness."
The lines are from "The Monologue of a Blind Child," the recently published second collection of essays by 14-year-old Yuan Liang.
Diseased retinas caused her to lose her eyesight when she was 3.
"I simply describe the colorful world of my imagination. My desire is to become a renowned writer, free to communicate with others like a normal child," Yuan said of the book. "Above all, I want to live as strongly as Helen Keller."
Keller, an American who died in 1968 at the age of 88, overcame being blind and deaf to become an author and activist.
Yuan's father encouraged her to become a published author. Yuan Deli, a self-employed businessman, learned Braile so that he could translate his daughter's writings that used the system of raised dots into Chinese characters. He negotiated with Shanghai University Press to publish his daughter's works.
"I think having her books published can give her a sense of confidence and also a feeling of success," said Yuan Deli.
When he saw that other youngsters were being published locally, he became convinced that his daughter could also become a published writer.
Teen-age writers have a ready audience--other teen-agers who are eager to read someone like themselves who can aritculate their hopes and concerns, said educators and adult writers.
Han Han, an 18-year-old who has published two novels and a collection of essays in the past two years, emerged before young Yuan.
Han has been enthusiastically received by many of his peers because he has boldly critized traditional social norms and the traditional educational system that stresses rote learning. His candid writings about sex caused his publisher to tone down his words, using less-graphic language.
Last year, Han, then a 10th grader, was asked to withdraw from his high school after he flunked most of his courses. He did.
In an autobiography about her experiences in growing up, Liu Yiting of Sichuan Province, who was admitted to Harvard University two years ago, recalled how her parents brought her up. Once, when she was 8 years old, they made her carry a block of ice to teach her perseverance.
(eastday.com January 17, 2002)
