Writing with Life as Ink, Dreams as the Pen

The Literary Journey of Post-80s Writer Bingguo

By Arthur Peng, Special Correspondent

To many people, the “post-80s generation” is the first generation to grow up alongside the Internet. But to writer Bingguo, growing up has never simply meant witnessing technological change—it has meant embarking on a lifelong journey of exploring, understanding, and writing about life itself.



A Chance Encounter at the Beijing International Film Festival

In April 2019, I met Bingguo at the Beijing International Film Festival. Standing among filmmakers and artists, he struck me as thoughtful and reserved, carrying the quiet temperament of someone who had experienced both the dazzling world of cinema and the solitude of literature.

（Binguo and Filmmaker Jerry Velasco)

Born Chen Yingjie, Bingguo graduated from the Beijing Film Academy. Before becoming a novelist, he carried cameras, acted in stage productions, filmed MTVs, and dreamed of becoming a director and actor. Today, however, he has chosen a different stage—one built not of lights and cameras, but of words.

From the world of moving images to the realm of literature, his life has unfolded much like the characters in his novels: filled with idealism, struggle, reflection, and personal growth.
 

A Childhood Surrounded by Books

Bingguo’s relationship with literature began remarkably early.

When he was only three years old, his mother took him on a train journey to Changbai Mountain. Fellow passengers were astonished to see the little boy “reading” comic books fluently. In reality, he was not yet literate. He was simply retelling the stories his mother had lovingly narrated to him every night before bedtime.

Those stories became the seeds of his literary imagination.

Even today, hundreds of illustrated storybooks remain carefully preserved in his family library. To Bingguo, they are far more than childhood memorabilia—they are the birthplace of his dreams.

During his teenage years, another passion emerged: photography.

At just ten years old, his photographs were published in newspapers and magazines, and his work Thought received the Bronze Award at the Shenyang Youth Photography Competition. His favorite subject was always his mother.

“I’ve always tried to discover the meaning of love through my mother’s image,” he once said.

 

The Transformative Years at Beijing Film Academy

As a young man, Bingguo entered the prestigious Beijing Film Academy.

Those four years were filled with youthful passion. He filmed MTVs, performed in large theatrical productions, studied cinematography and filmmaking, and grew alongside classmates who would later become professionals in China’s film and media industries.

Yet when graduation arrived, he made a decision that surprised many.

He gave up acting.

“Being an actor was once my mother’s dream for me. But eventually I realized that words express my inner world far better than a camera ever could.”

That decision changed the course of his life.

Film school taught him how to observe the world.

Literature taught him how to understand human nature.

For Bingguo, true education extends far beyond classrooms. Every experience, every disappointment, every dream became nourishment for future writing.
 

His Mother: The First Beacon of Literature

Whenever Bingguo speaks about his mother, his admiration is unmistakable.

His mother, Bingren, is a Chinese American writer and educator. Growing up beside her desk, he watched her devote countless hours to writing and witnessed how literature could influence people’s lives.

“My pen name is Bingguo,” he says with a smile, “because I am my mother’s fruit.”

Simple words reveal profound affection.

In his heart, his mother gave him much more than life.

She taught him how to read.

She taught him how to think.

She taught him how to write.

Most importantly, she taught him how to live with integrity.

When his debut novel Internet Café Boy was finally published, she burst into tears. At that moment, Bingguo truly understood the power of literature.

A writer may walk a lonely road.

But words possess the ability to transcend time.
 

Searching for Life’s Answers Through Literature

For Bingguo, writing has never been merely a profession.

It is a belief.

He deeply admires Bing Xin, respects Jin Yong, appreciates Ba Jin’s sense of literary responsibility, and is inspired by the persistence of American essayist Joan Didion.

“Writing has become a habit, a way of thinking—even an addiction I never want to quit.”

He believes that genuine writers must do more than read extensively.

They must explore human nature.

They must dissect themselves.

And above all,

“Use their own blood as ink, and their own lives as the source of their writing.”

Perhaps no sentence captures Bingguo’s literary philosophy more honestly.
 

Internet Café Boy: A Portrait of a Generation

Around the year 2000, the Internet rapidly transformed the lives of young Chinese people.

Recognizing this profound social change, Bingguo wrote his breakthrough novel Internet Café Boy.

The story follows university student Chen Nan, who becomes immersed in the online world while searching for love and identity between virtual reality and real life.

Its characters were not fictional inventions.

Many were inspired by real people around him.

Following publication, the novel received widespread attention.

Renowned literary critic Wang Xiangfeng praised the book:

“A young man in the prime of youth has written a work of remarkable emotional depth and spiritual power.”

Veteran journalist Qi Shiming commented:

“Bingguo’s prose is refined and powerful. Such writing is impossible without profound life experience.”

Its companion novel, Internet Café Girl, later expanded his exploration of youth, identity, and emotional growth in the digital age.

Together, these novels became a literary portrait of an entire generation navigating the dawn of the Internet era.
 

Writing for Love, Traveling for Dreams

Bingguo believes deeply in love.

To him, genuine love does not require dramatic gestures—it flourishes through quiet companionship and enduring devotion.

This philosophy is beautifully reflected in his novel The Girl with the Paper Crane.

To enrich his writing, he travels extensively.

Every year he visits different countries, observing diverse cultures and ways of life.

“The farther I travel,” he says, “the broader the world becomes—and so does literature.”

Over the years, he has published The Collected Works of Bingguo, including:

His historical novel Biography of Zhong Xian is nearing completion, while another new novel, Doctor of the Apocalypse, is currently in progress.

 

Life Is a Stage, Literature Is Its Light

From an award-winning young photographer…

To a student at the Beijing Film Academy…

To a young man chasing dreams of acting…

To a professional novelist devoted to literature…

Bingguo has always followed the path illuminated by his dreams.

Some say his life resembles a movie.

He prefers to think of it as a novel.

Its pages contain regret and perseverance.

Confusion and growth.

Failure and hope.

As he once said:

“Rather than carefully designing the future, I’d rather live according to my own heart.”

Perhaps this is what makes Bingguo truly compelling.

He never stopped believing in the power of words.

Nor did he stop believing that life itself is the richest material any writer could ever possess.

On the long and often lonely road of literature, he continues to write—with life as his ink and dreams as his pen—telling not only his own story, but also the spiritual journey of an entire generation.

(Binguo and the Author)

(Photos courtesy of Bingguo or from the author’s personal collection.)