孽子

Blurb

Crystal Boys 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. A translation into German 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" 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, which has gained great attention.