Talking About the Southern Song was first published in 1965 by Taiwan's Pingyuan Press. Of particular note, its publisher, Guo Yidong, later became the celebrated historian and critic Bai Yang. The case surrounding Talking About the Southern Song led to his being held for "reeducation" for ten years at the military prison in Xindian, Green Island. This unique manuscript was discovered by the author's descendants among the classified files of the Kuomintang's Central Work Diary. Its republication presents readers with a real-life case of the cultural dictatorship Chiang Kai-shek imposed at the time.
