Peter Pan Lei's formative years were marked by turbulence and quixotic adventures, shaping his future as a scriptwriter and director. Born in Vietnam to Chinese parents, Lei's early life was marked by displacement and upheaval.
During World War II, Lei's family fled Vietnam to escape the conflict, eventually settling in Yunnan province, China. At a young age, Lei enlisted in the Chinese armed forces and fought against the Japanese at the Sino-Burmese front in India, earning the rank of lieutenant.
After the war, Lei returned to Vietnam but was forced to flee once again due to the outbreak of the French-Indochina War. He eventually made his way to Shanghai, where he enrolled in medical school, hoping to find a new sense of purpose.
However, Lei's true calling lay in creative writing, and he began to focus on penning novellas and poetry while working for a Kuomintang enterprise. As the 1940s drew to a close, Lei's writing career was interrupted by the turmoil of the Chinese Civil War and the eventual establishment of the People's Republic of China.
Undeterred, Lei relocated to Formosa (Taiwan) and began a new chapter in his life. He was hired as a columnist for a Taipei literary magazine, eventually advancing to become a college professor, teaching scriptwriting to film students.
In the late 1950s, Lei made the transition to the film industry, joining the offices of Taiwan's Central Motion Pictures Corporation in Taipei, setting the stage for his future success as a scriptwriter and director.
