Home is where Kunqu is

In the past five years, Kenneth Pai Hsien-yong has become widely known in China as a promoter of Kunqu Opera, overshadowing the fact he is one of the foremost writers of modern Chinese literature. Few know he once dreamed of being an engineer.

Pai was born on July 11, 1937, the eighth child in a wealthy family of 10 kids, in Guilin, Guangxi. His father was the Kuomintang general Bai Chongxi, whom he later described as a "stern, Confucian father who can recite Records of the Historian (史记)".

"People know my father was a wise and tough general but at home it was my mother who took care of the family, including dozens of relatives," says Pai.