Many of his earlier works are based on contemporary happenings within Taiwanese society. Earth, for example, examines the relationship between people and the earth in a time of economic transition, as well as the confusion and forlornness experienced by students studying abroad. Another book, The Anger of Yesterday, portrays the movement amongst overseas Chinese in the 1970s to defend Taiwan's sovereignty over the Tiaoyutai islands.
不少作品皆取材於當時台灣社會現狀，例如《地》寫經濟轉型中，人與地的關係，留學生的迷惘和失落的心境；《昨日之怒》描寫一九七○年代海外知識份子發起的保衛釣魚台運動。