The Clash between Ideological Correctness and Academic Freedom

By Mi Qin

After reading Baptism, an engrossing novel by acclaimed author Yang Jiang, most readers will agree that academic freedom is fundamental to a scholar's pursuit of the truth and to disseminate knowledge without fear of censorship.

The novel, which digs deeper into the lives of a group of intellectuals from the "old society", who are forced to adjust to a new reality after the establishment of the People's Republic in 1949, was published in 1988. It is the only novel by Yang, an iconic playwright, author and translator who died on May 25, aged 105.