On Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four

British writer George Orwell's novel 1984 was translated into Chinese in 1979, and published in 1987, receiving many reprints. At least three other translations were later circulated, demonstrating the popularity of the novel.

Orwell (1903-1950) joined an arm of the Workers' Party of Marxist Unification, during the Spanish Civil War, and observed the infighting of the Comintern, successions of purges and brutal political persecution. From those experiences, he became a staunchly anti-totalitarian democratic socialist.