1999 Wu Zhuoliu Literary Prize
Black Wings is a story about an island and the sea, and about the dreams and friendship of four Tao youths. As kids, they eagerly anticipate the adults’ return from fishing, longing to begin their own voyage someday. Now the time has come. Black Wings is also a story about a clash of cultures between the Tao and the Han Chinese, about what to do with our childhood dreams when we really grow up, and most essentially, about how much knowledge the ocean can offer.