Born in Guilin（桂林）, Guangxi（广西）, but grew up in Taiwan, and gained a BA in English Literature from National Taiwan University. He then moved to the U.S. and gained a Master's degree in Fine Arts from the University of Iowa. He was one of the founders of the bi-monthly Modern Literature. His writings include the short-story collection Taipei jen. He has been Professor of Chinese at the University of Southern California, Santa Barbara for many years.

A higher proportion of Pai's work has been turned into films, TV or stage plays than almost any other contemporary Taiwanese writer. Stories works as Jade Love, The Last Night of Taipan Chin, Crystal Boys, and Wandering in the Garden, Waking from a Dream are recognized classics of Chinese-language fiction.

Regardless of whether he was writing creative works in Taiwan or teaching Chinese literature at UC Santa Barbara, Pai’s love affair with Kun opera has never weakened. He was involved in two prior productions of Peony Pavilion, in 1983 and 1992, but those were abridged versions of the original opera. For this version, he took on the task of creating an adaptation that is suited to modern tastes and yet remains faithful to the original opera, including all the traditional performance practices of kun opera.

Works:
• Zhexian ji (谪仙记Fallen Immortal) 1967
• Youyuan jingmeng (游园惊梦Wandering in the Garden, Waking from a Dream) 1968
• Taipei ren (台北人Taipei People) 1971
• Jimo de shiqi sui (寂寞的十七岁Lonely Seventeen) 1976
Works available in English:
• Crystal Boys: A Novel (Howard Goldblatt). San Francisco: Gay Sunshine Press,
1990.
• Taipei People (The author and Patia Yasin). Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, 2000.
• Wandering in the Garden, Waking from a Dream: Tales of Taipei Characters
(The author and Patia Yasin). Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1982