Ai Weiwei: A Thousand Years of Joy and Sorrow

1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows

The world's most creative rebel recalls his father, Ai Qing, reflecting on his own life and art, using three generations of experience to explore contemporary China.
A true account of 81 days of secret detention, a Kafkaesque absurdity unfolding in real life.
The author personally drew the cover and 55 interior page sketches
My father opened the "Ci Hai", closed his eyes, pressed his finger on the character "未", and said: Let's call it "未未".

Ai Weiwei, the artist who gives China's power the finger, consistently captures the pulse of society through his artistic actions. He uses bold creativity to challenge the powerful, deconstruct culture, and give voice to the underdog. In fact, his life story is inextricably linked to China's nearly 100 years of history.

His father, Ai Qing, was a renowned Chinese poet. He associated with the first generation of Chinese Communist Party leaders in Yan'an, participated in the design of the flag and emblem of the People's Republic of China at its founding, and was a close friend of the Chilean poet Neruda. However, during successive Communist campaigns, he was labeled a rightist and exiled to remote areas such as the Great Northern Wilderness and Xinjiang. For nearly twenty years, Ai Weiwei lived with his father, who was undergoing forced labor on a farm.

Dissatisfaction with the status quo in his youth prompted him to leave the country and study art in the United States. While facing poverty in New York, he experienced a series of spiritual upheavals—the inspiration of Duchamp, the shock of Andy Warhol, and the wonder of the pro-democracy protests. His association with Allen Ginsberg further broadened his horizons. From his early days, Ai Weiwei's art was imbued with a rebellious spirit.

After returning to China, he brought injustice and absurdity to light, resonating widely among the Chinese people and propelling him to international artistic prominence. He co-designed the "Bird's Nest" Olympic Stadium in Beijing. The Financial Times hailed him as "the most important artist of our time," while the New York Times called him "a powerful voice for freedom that refuses to be silenced." However, the Chinese authorities increasingly viewed him as a thorn in their side, restricting his personal freedom. Ai Weiwei was constantly under surveillance by surveillance cameras and national security agents, and was even placed under secret detention by the authorities.

This multifaceted memoir not only charts Ai Weiwei's creative journey, demonstrating how the artist engages society through his work and activism, but also offers a microcosm of China's development over the past century, from the Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War to the Anti-Rightist Movement and the Cultural Revolution, from the Tiananmen Square Massacre to the COVID-19 outbreak, and even touches on the refugee crisis currently gripping the world. The intimate interweaving of personal, family, and national histories imbues this meticulously crafted documentary with a fighting spirit for human rights, humanitarian concern, and freedom of expression.

“Beauty and rationality are unyielding. No matter how they disappear, they will surely be released again in the form of rebellion.” – Ai Weiwei
Praise and recommendation from people from all walks of life
Edward Snowden
Elton John
Andrew Solomon
Michiko Kakutani
Evan Osnos
Lark News (Podcaster)
Fang Huizhen (writer)
Lin Chang-chao (Legislative Yuan member)
Fan Qifei (Senior Media Professional)
Zhang Yong (Photographer)

Highly recommended by international heavyweights
This is a rare memoir, transcending the tracks of history and reaching the limits of the soul. Ai Weiwei's work offers an extraordinary testimony to the enduring power of pure, bold truth. An artist without the courage to speak the truth is merely a decorator, a citizen without truth is merely a subject. --Edward Snowden
Ai Weiwei is one of the greatest artists of our time. He is a master of many media. His work is always thought-provoking, unexpected, and deeply personal. -- Elton John
A life of courage, reason, failure, and success... A sweeping, sophisticated, and rigorous masterpiece set in his native China, but in fact a book about our world. He is one of the most remarkable voices of our time. --Andrew Solomon, author of Abandoning Kinship
Ai Weiwei: A Thousand Years of Joy and Sorrow is a vivid record of the artist's troubled life, offering a clear picture of decades of Chinese history and the terrible cost of authoritarian regimes—reminiscent of Kafka and Solzhenitsyn. —Michiko Kakutani, American literary critic
This book instantly became a classic in the literature on China's rise, rejecting the destruction of memory and revealing the power of free expression. With insightful and moving prose, he presents a family's ordeal, allowing readers to see not only the past but also the future. --Evan Owen, American journalist and author
Index media positive reviews and recommendations
Selected as "Best Book of the Year" by Time Magazine, Kirkus Reviews, Booklist Magazine, and Bookpage

Intimate yet sweeping, a quest for art and freedom... A captivating sociopolitical history that takes one of the world's most important artists behind the scenes. --Time Magazine

Ai Weiwei: A Millennium of Joy and Sorrow can be seen as another act of resistance... This book attempts to reclaim the troubled history of his own country and his own family. - The Wall Street Journal

A provocative account of faith and social movements... A powerfully observed account of two artists working against the grain, only to be slapped with the whims of absurd politics. —The San Francisco Chronicle

Poignantly… Ai Weiwei's life shares so many similarities with his father's, a profound thread emerging from them… Ai Weiwei refuses to let the fragments of his life remain buried. Unearthing them is an act of liberation, an open letter to future generations, bridging past and present. It is a refusal to be a pawn—and the most powerful self-declaration. —New York Times Book Review

It captivates readers... Ai Weiwei's unwavering belief in freedom of expression and his resistance to the relentless oppression of the Chinese Communist Party make this book shine, like a glittering ray of justice. --The New York Review of Books

This memoir is an extraordinary book—and an important one…a breathtaking self-examination by a courageous artist. —Minneapolis Star Tribune

Inspiring and moving. ——Booklist Magazine (starred review)

Fascinating...highly recommended. --Library Magazine (starred review)

A smooth and emotionally genuine novel. --Kirkus Reviews (starred)

2022-07-05

時報出版

376

9786263355767