The Columbia Companion to Modern Chinese Literature The Columbia Companion to Modern Chinese Literature Edited by Kirk A. Denton Columbia University Press New York Columbia University Press Publishers Since 1893 New York Chichester, West Sussex cup.columbia.edu Copyright © 2016 Columbia University Press All rights reserved Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The Columbia companion to modern Chinese literature / edited by Kirk A. Denton. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-231-17008-6 (cloth : acid-free paper) — ISBN 978-0-231-17009-3 (pbk. : acid-free paper) — ISBN 978-0-231-54114-5 (electronic) 1. Chinese literature—20th century—History and criticism. 2. Chinese literature—21st century—History and criticism. I. Denton, Kirk A., 1955- editor. PL2303.C5996 2016 895.109'005—dc23 2015019156 Columbia University Press books are printed on permanent and durable acid-free paper. This book is printed on paper with recycled content. Printed in the United States of America c 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 p 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Cover design: Noah Arlow References to websites (URLs) were accurate at the time of writing. Neither the author nor Columbia University Press is responsible for URLs that may have expired or changed since the manuscript was prepared. Contents Preface and Acknowledgments ix Chronology of Major Historical Events xi part one Thematic Essays 1. Historical Overview 3 Kirk A. Denton 2. Modern Chinese Literature as an Institution: Canon and Literary History 27 Yingjin Zhang 3. Language and Literary Form 38 Charles Laughlin 4. Literary Communities and the Production of Literature 46 Michel Hockx 5. Between Tradition and Modernity: Contested Classical Poetry 55 Shengqing Wu 6. Diaspora in Modern Chinese Literature 62 Shuyu Kong 7. Sinophone Literature 72 Brian Bernards vi Contents 8. Chinese Literature and Film Adaptation 80 Hsiu-Chuang Deppman part two Authors, Works, Schools 9. The Late Qing Poetry Revolution: Liang Qichao, Huang Zunxian, and Chinese Literary Modernity 89 Jianhua Chen 10. The Uses of Fiction: Liang Qichao and His Contemporaries 97 Alexander Des Forges 11. Late Qing Fiction 104 Ying Hu 12. Zhou Shoujuan’s Love Stories and Mandarin Ducks and Butterflies Fiction 111 Jianhua Chen 13. Form and Reform: New Poetry and the Crescent Moon Society 121 John A. Crespi 14. Reconsidering the Origins of Modern Chinese Women’s Writing 128 Amy D. Dooling 15. The Madman That Was Ah Q: Tradition and Modernity in Lu Xun’s Fiction 136 Ann Huss 16. Romantic Sentiment and the Problem of the Subject: Yu Dafu 145 Kirk A. Denton 17. Feminism and Revolution: The Work and Life of Ding Ling 152 Jingyuan Zhang 18. The Debate on Revolutionary Literature 159 Charles Laughlin 19. Mao Dun, the Modern Novel, and the Representation of Women 163 Hilary Chung 20. Ba Jin’s Family: Fiction, Representation, and Relevance 169 Nicholas A. Kaldis 21. Chinese Modernism: The New Sensationists 176 Steven L. Riep 22. Shen Congwen and Imagined Native Communities 183 Jeffrey Kinkley 23. Xiao Hong’s Field of Life and Death 189 Amy D. Dooling Contents vii 24. Performing the Nation: Chinese Drama and Theater 195 Xiaomei Chen 25. Cao Yu and Thunderstorm 205 Jonathan Noble 26. The Reluctant Nihilism of Lao She’s Rickshaw 211 Thomas Moran 27. Eileen Chang and Narratives of Cities and Worlds 217 Nicole Huang 28. Literature and Politics: Mao Zedong’s “Yan’an Talks” and Party Rectification 224 Kirk A. Denton 29. Qian Zhongshu and Yang Jiang: A Literary Marriage 231 Christopher Rea 30. Revolutionary Realism and Revolutionary Romanticism: Song of Youth 237 Ban Wang 31. The Hundred Flowers: Qin Zhaoyang, Wang Meng, and Liu Binyan 245 Richard King 32. Cold War Fiction from Taiwan and the Modernists 250 Christopher Lupke 33. Nativism and Localism in Taiwanese Literature 258 Christopher Lupke 34. The Cultural Revolution Model Theater 267 Di Bai 35. Martial Arts Fiction and Jin Yong 274 John Christopher Hamm 36. Taiwan Romance: Qiong Yao and San Mao 280 Miriam Lang 37. Misty Poetry 286 Michelle Yeh 38. Scar Literature and the Memory of Trauma 293 Sabina Knight 39. Culture Against Politics: Roots-Seeking Literature 299 Mark Leenhouts 40. Mo Yan 307 Yomi Braester 41. Avant-Garde Fiction in Post-Mao China 313 Andrew F. Jones viii Contents 42. Contemporary Experimental Theaters in the People’s Republic of China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong 320 Rossella Ferrari 43. Modern Poetry of Taiwan 327 Michelle Yeh 44. Homoeroticism in Modern Chinese Literature 336 Thomas Moran 45. Contemporary Urban Fiction: Rewriting the City 345 Robin Visser and Jie Lu 46. Xi Xi and Tales of Hong Kong 355 Daisy S. Y. Ng 47. Writing Taiwan’s Fin-de-Siècle Splendor: Zhu Tianwen and Zhu Tianxin 363 Lingchei Letty Chen 48. Wang Anyi 371 Lingzhen Wang 49. Wang Shuo 379 Jonathan Noble 50. Commercialization of Literature in the Post-Mao Era: Yu Hua, Beauty Writers, and Youth Writers 386 Zhen Zhang 51. Popular Genre Fiction: Science Fiction and Fantasy 394 Mingwei Song 52. Word and Image: Gao Xingjian 400 Mabel Lee 53. Hong Kong Voices: Literature from the Late Twentieth Century to the New Millennium 407 Esther M. K. Cheung 54. Avant-Garde Poetry in China Since the 1980s 414 Maghiel van Crevel 55. Taiwan Literature in the Post–Martial Law Era 422 Michael Berry 56. Speaking from the Margins: Yan Lianke 431 Carlos Rojas 57. Internet Literature: From YY to MOOC 436 Heather Inwood Index 441 Preface and Acknowledgments The essays in this volume are not meant to constitute a comprehensive history of modern Chinese literature, and there are, of course, gaps in coverage. My motivation was primarily pedagogical: to put together a resource that could be used fruitfully in university classrooms as a companion to readings of works of modern Chinese literature. In selecting topics for the essays, I have sought to focus on the most significant literary trends, styles, and writers, as well as some larger, macro issues related to language, literary institutions, media, and socio- economic transformations. The first eight essays are of a general thematic nature and serve as background for the remaining forty-nine essays, which focus on specific authors, works, or schools and which are organized into rough chronological order. The volume treats fiction, poetry, and drama from the late nineteenth century to the present. I have chosen not to include the essay ((cid:6967)(cid:7003)) in its purview because of space limitations and because the essay is not often taught in the West in courses on modern Chinese literature, not because I see it as a marginal literary genre in China. Indeed, in certain periods—the war against Japan and the 1980s, for instance—prose writing was an extremely pop- ular and influential literary form. Many of these essays originally appeared in the China section of the Columbia Companion to Modern East Asian Literature, edited by Joshua Mostow (Columbia, 2003). They have been updated and revised to take into account the literary output in the decade since that book’s publication. All other essays are new. x Preface and Acknowledgments I wish to thank, first and foremost, the authors who contributed to this book. It is their vast knowledge and clarity of mind and expression that have made this book possible. I am also grateful to the external reviewers for their highly con- structive criticisms. Jennifer Crewe and Jonathan Fiedler of Columbia University Press were extremely supportive throughout the process of revising the book. Jia Shi lent her valuable time to help with final preparations.