Everyone has dreamt before. However, Ni K'uang's dreams are different. The manner in which he dreams is: What would happen if...?
If we lived in a world in which life consisted of only plants and animals, whereby man evolved from animal, then what would it be like if the plants were to develop into another highly developed form?
If a being from Mars came to earth and took man as a specimen for research, then what would things be like?
If one day you just so happen to come across a person wounded whose blood is not red....
These kinds of questions fill Ni K'uang's dreams at night, as well as his daydreams. They gradually take on a life form and lay dormant in his mind, just waiting for him to write away.
Ni K'uang is noted for his speed. His fastest record remains 4,500 words per hour. He can work on twelve different novels or essays a day. In one month's time he can edit three Bruce Lee movie scripts. In the span of just one year he can crank out twenty books. His usual speed is 2,500 words per hour.
At present he is one of the most highly paid writers, as well as the most popular among readers of Chinese novels. He spends half a year between Taipei and Hong Kong writing and the other half traveling.
The scenes for his stories take place just about everywhere. Yet the most touching stories always happen in those places where he's never been before, like in a time tunnel or on another planet off in outer space.
Ni K'uang loves to drink beer. In fear of getting a beer belly he took diet pills for ten years to maintain his shape. This "baby face," whose daughter has already graduated from college, looks just a little over forty.
On September 21, 1985, his beer buddy, Ku Lung--a martial arts novelist-- passed away. Ni K'uang opened 48 bottles of X.O. and drank half of each one along with his friends. He put the remaining half in Ku Lung's coffin.
His novel Ta Hsia, or Great Knight, has been made into a movie and has proved a big hit both on television and at the box office. His face can be seen on television, magazines, and other periodicals all around. "It's always pleasant to have some attractive lady come up to me on the streets of Taipei or Hong Kong and ask for an autograph," he says.
Recently he has narrated stories on tape with his Shanghai Cantonese Mandarin accent. As soon as the recording company heard his voice, they knew he had a talent for such things.
"He just wants his friends to be happy," says Anna Yang, a close friend of his. Another friend also says, "A no speaking, no drinking Ni K'uang are one and the same--no fun." So when he's with friends he makes everybody happy. Drinks keep coming one after the other.
For Ni K'uang, childhood years are not filled with happy memories.
Born in 1935 in Chekiang Province, he left his home at the age of fifteen to join the "People's Liberation Army." He lost hope when he became ill while with the troops.
At that time his troop ate together from the same big pot of rice. When he fell ill someone told him to eat the better food around.
He didn't quite understand the meaning behind this and asked, "Where's the better food; aren't we all equal?"
On account of such talk he was sent to be stationed in Inner Mongolia where the winters are freezing cold.
However, the bitter cold did not change Ni K'uang's desire to speak frankly.
He attributes his ability to speak to the conflicts in meetings in which "You had to think quick and speak fast in order to save your life."
In addition, he had to write up a selfexamination of himself every day. He used this opportunity to train himself in logical thinking. He attributes his ability to write quickly to this factor.
In the summer of 1957 he managed to cross the border into Hong Kong.
When he first made it into Hong Kong, he lived in a rundown storehouse where he worked making not more than three H.K. dollars a day.
His first novel, Huo Mai or Buried Alive, was more than 10,000 words in length. It's descriptive of the bitter hardships and poverty during the period of land reform in northern China. At that time he was 23 years old He became well known as a writer after that and it's been smooth sailing ever since.
"Ni K'uang is good at keeping you in suspense; it's what makes the reader continue," says Shen Te-en of Vista Publishing Co., who has published more than forty of his books.
At present, eighty of Ni K'uang's science fiction novels have been published domestically and have sold over 1.5 million copies. Most readers range between being middle school to college students, with males outnumbering females.
In the first conference on science fiction novels, Professor Shen Chun-shan of the physics department at National Ch'ing Hua University made note that, "Ni K'uang's novels are very popular and have attracted many, yet they haven't given us any information." Ni K'uang doesn't deny this point; his novels are far out and not based on much scientific evidence. He says that a novelist doesn't have to take responsibility for anything that may happen in the future.
Now over fifty years old and a bit tired, he still bends to the pressure of others to write. Besides, with the way he spends money, he's got to continue writing in order to maintain his present lifestyle.
"I'm tired. Let me rest a while, then I can write a classic," he says.
His friends and readers surely hope so.
[Picture Caption]
The "naughty boy" of the literary circle.
Fanning himself while making a hand gesture, Ni K'uang tells a story like nobody else.
In December 1986, Ni K'uang was invited to bestow the awards at the Golden Tripod Award Ceremony. Here he catches a backstage laugh with star Fu Chuan. (Sinorama files)
(Right) Each page of Ni K'uang's draft paper weights about 6 grams with most of the empty white space taken up by four seal inscriptions. He is known for having the cutest draft paper in the business.
(Left) When he finishes off the imported stuff, then he moves on to the kaoliang. However, when it's time to get down to business, he doesn't touch a drip.
Last year, the 52-year-old Ni K'uang came to Taiwan to give a live "voice performance." (photo by Ch'iu Sheng-wang)
Fanning himself while making a hand gesture, Ni K'uang tells a story like nobody else.
In December 1986, Ni K'uang was invited to bestow the awards at the Golden Tripod Award Ceremony. Here he catches a backstage laugh with star Fu Chuan. （Sinorama files）
Each page of Ni K'uang's draft paper weights about 6 grams with most of the empty white space taken up by four seal inscriptions. He is known for having the cutest draft paper in the business.
When he finishes off the imported stuff, then he moves on to the kaoliang. However, when it's time to get down to business, he doesn't touch a dri.
Last year, the 52-year-old Ni K'uang came to Taiwan to give a live "voice performance.".
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