Crystal Boys

Crystal Boys
AuthorPai Hsien-yung
Original title孽子
LanguageChinese
GenreFiction
PublisherYuan Jing
Publication date
1983
Publication placeTaiwan
Media typePrint
Pages397 p.
OCLC818956496

Crystal Boys (孽子, pinyin: Nièzǐ, "sons of sin") is a novel written by author Pai Hsien-yung and first published in 1983 in Taiwan. In 1988, this novel went into circulation in China; its French and English translations were published in 1985 and 1989, respectively. A translation into German ("Treffpunkt Lotussee") appeared in 1995.

Nièzǐ means literally "sinful sons" or "sons of sin", but it may also be an allusion to a passage in Mencius in which "friendless officials and concubine's sons" (孤臣孽子) reach positions of power because they have learned to live with a dangerous status.

A movie called Outcasts, based on this novel, was released in 1986. In 2003, the material was adapted by Taiwan Public Television Service Foundation into a miniseries.[1]

There is a reference to You Xian Ku in the chapter "Journey to the Goblin Cave".

  1. ^ Yu, Sen-lu (16 February 2003). "Nostalgia for the bad old days". Taipei Times.