President Hu Jintao and Jiang Zemin send wreaths to the funeral of Ba Jin
Thousands of people yesterday paid their last respects to mainland literary giant Ba Jin , a writer embraced by the Communist Party for his criticism of society in pre-1949 China.
According to government estimates, more than 5,000 mourners lined up at the Longhua Funeral Home in a suburb of Shanghai to file past an open casket bearing the body of Ba Jin, dressed in a black western-style suit and red tie.
Government officials, including Politburo Standing Committee member Jia Qinglin , bowed before a simple coffin surrounded by roses, as scores of police kept the crowd at bay. Wreaths sent by President Hu Jintao and his predecessor, Jiang Zemin , were laid next to a picture of Ba Jin at the centre of the hall.
One mourner, an 80-year-old woman, said the writer's work spoke to a generation in the 1930s during a tumultuous period of China's history. 'He is very special to me. We joined the army and revolution under his influence. He told us to never lose hope during difficult times,' she said.
Ba Jin, the pen name of Li Feigan , is recognised as one of the most important Chinese writers of the 20th century. However, his influence has waned with time, even though his books are required reading for mainland schoolchildren.
'Fewer young people are interested in his books. They like Harry Potter more. But I think his books are still worth reading today. We can't live without the past,' said Liu Liping , a researcher at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences who attended the funeral.