Historical novels about China. Chinese love classics
Briefly about the books that we have read so far, one way or another related to China, and what we think about them and what we recommend - so that you can decide for yourself whether to read any of the above or maybe even take it with you on a trip.
“Wolf Totem”, Jiang Rong (“Wolf Totem”)
A difficult but very interesting semi-autobiographical book about the way of life of nomadic shepherds from the point of view of a Chinese student.
They even made a movie based on this novel, but we haven’t gotten to it yet.
China. Mid 60s. Chen Zhen, a member of the young Chinese intelligentsia, finds himself in Inner Mongolia, one of the most remote and distinctive provinces of China. The young man settles in the yurt of the old Mongol Bilig. From him, Chen Zhen learns that since time immemorial, the Mongols have worshiped the wolf totem, which, according to them, symbolizes the victory of charisma over the forces of the elements and makes it possible to exist in extreme conditions. Having lived among the cold steppes, Chen Zhen gradually discovers the amazing but simple world of a nomad, built on the confrontation between people and wolves...
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“The River at the Center of the Earth: Up the Yangtze - Back into China's Past”, Simon Winchester
(The River at the Center of the World)
In 1996, a British journalist published a book about his journey along the Yangtze River. He decided to swim it all from the mouth to the source. And he, in principle, succeeded. The book is funny and interesting at times.
“Dream in the Red Chamber”, Cao Xueqin (Red Chambers, 红罗梦）
A Chinese classic, something like “One Hundred Years of Solitude,” set during the Qing Dynasty in the 17th and 18th centuries. One of us only made it through a few dozen pages, because the number of heroes multiplied at an unprecedented speed. We read that in this work there are about two hundred main characters, and two or three times more minor characters.
Verdict: if you are interested in Chinese classics and are not intimidated by the number of characters, it’s worth at least giving it a try.
“The Dream in the Red Chamber” is a multifaceted story about the decline of two branches of the Jia family, against the background of which - in addition to three generations of the family - are countless of their relatives and household members.
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“Lost Horizon”, James Hilton (Lost Horizon)
The book was written in 1933, and in terms of the level of excitement around and romanticization of places and characters, it is comparable to Bram Stoker’s book “Dracula”. The idea of a “lost paradise”, a certain enchanted place Shangri-La, gained such popularity that at first there was a long debate about which places the author described, and then the Chinese, for commercial purposes, simply took and renamed the city of Zhongdian to it.
Yulia specially read this book before visiting eastern Tibet, since, according to one version, the blue mountain described in the book as a landmark is a mountain from the reserve. There really was a very similar mountain, which gave a beautiful touch of romance to the places visited. The book itself is interesting, but completely fictitious, if anything.
“The Magpie Bridge”, Liu Hong.
It can be translated as “bridge of birds” or “bridge of forty”, but apparently does not exist in Russian translation. A cute novel intertwined with Chinese superstitions and rituals and the famous legend of the shepherd and the weaver.
“Midnight in Beijing”, Paul French (Midnight in Peking)
Detective. On the first pages there is a brutal murder, and then it is investigated, investigated, everyone is found, but... If you're expecting a thriller and sharp plot twists every ten pages, no, that's not what the book is about. The narration is leisurely, for those who like to savor the atmosphere. Personally, I didn’t really like it, but some people thought it was great. All the action takes place in Beijing's hutongs, some of which remain to this day.
“Favorite Monkey of the House of Tang”, Master Chen
A spy-detective-entertainment novel based on some real events and figures of ancient China. The events in the book take place in Chang'an (ancient Xi'an). It may seem too easy to some, however, if you don’t go into looking for inaccuracies, it’s a great way to while away a few evenings.
“Shanghai baby”, Wei hui (上海宝贝）
The sensational scandalous bestseller outside of China made a lukewarm impression on most readers: well, sex, well, drugs, well, a love triangle. Nothing special.
In addition to hoodlit, sometimes you come across entertaining or simply beautiful books on a particular topic. Here are a few of them:
“Jews in China”, Pan Guang (犹太人在中国)
A large, weighty book that briefly tells three stories: about the Jews of Kaiping, about the wealthy Sephardic community (former Spanish Jews) and the Jewish ghetto in Shanghai, and about the Russian community in Harbin. There is not much text, mostly photographs from family archives and copies of numerous documents. Nevertheless, it is informative and not boring.
“Chinese propaganda posters”
(Chinese propaganda posters, TASCHEN publishing house)
For those who like to look at illustrations and inscriptions. Unfortunately, there is very little text with explanations.
With his smooth, warm, red face that radiated light in all directions, Chairman Mao Zedong was a major figure depicted in Chinese propaganda posters produced between the birth of the People's Republic of China in 1949 and the early 1980s. The portrait of Chairman Mao depicts the stoic superhero, also known as the “Great Teacher”, “Great Leader”, “Great Helmsman”, “Supreme Commander”, in all kinds of situations: inspecting factories, smoking a cigarette with ordinary workers, standing on the banks of the Yangtze River in a robe , leading, standing at the bow of a ship, or floating above a sea of red flags, always surrounded by strong, healthy, ageless men, masculine women and children in baggy, sexless, monotonous clothes. The purpose of each poster was to show the Chinese people what behavior was considered morally right and how great the future of Communist China would be if everyone followed the same path to utopia by uniting together. This book brings together a selection of colorful propaganda art and cultural artifacts from Max Gottschelk's extensive collection, many of which are incredibly rare.
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“Spirits and deities of the Chinese underworld”, Alexander Storozhuk, Tatyana Kornilieva.
This book is an encyclopedia of the afterlife in Chinese beliefs. It recreates the picture of traditional popular ideas about the structure of the world of the dead, echoes of which to this day are an integral part of Chinese culture. The main attention is paid to the forms that have found expression in modern Chinese temple culture. In addition to describing the deities of death and their assistants, the monograph talks about the Chinese “Book of the Dead” Yuli baochao, rituals of remembrance of the dead, types of hells, the structure of the subtle human body, the Afterlife Departments and Registers of Fate. The book is equipped with a large number of unique illustrations.
Intended for the widest range of readers.
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“Legends of Ten Chinese Traditional Festivals”, Zhan Tong.
A small book with beautiful illustrations and legends associated with the ten major Chinese holidays - in English and Chinese.
“In the Realm of the Gods”, Victoria Cass
A somewhat strange collection of Chinese legends, fairy tales and fables. More precisely, the collection is normal, but the legends themselves are radically different from those to which we are accustomed in the Western world. The story can end well, badly, or not at all. You never know what kind of moral there will be in the end, or whether there will be one at all.
Interesting for those trying to understand the Chinese mentality in a broader context than trading on the market and. The introductions to the chapters are also worthy of attention.
If you have read any of this and have something to add or, conversely, recommend something more interesting on the topic, share it in the comments.
Chinese literature is one of the oldest forms of art, its history goes back thousands of years. It originated in a distant era simultaneously with the appearance of the so-called buts - “fortune-telling words”, and throughout its development it was constantly changing. The trend in the development of Chinese literature is characterized by continuity - even if books were destroyed, this was certainly followed by the restoration of the originals, which were considered sacred in China.
Books written on turtles
“Fortune-telling words” - buts - are pictographic signs that, as a rule, were applied to turtle shells. They are the progenitors of modern Chinese writing - hieroglyphs. It is worth noting that Chinese writing has always stood apart from oral speech and also developed separately.
This is what makes Chinese literature different from world literature. The Chinese consider the art of speaking to be the highest of all possible, just like calligraphy.
History of the development of literature
Modern Chinese literature, of course, has a completely different structure and meaning than ancient literature, which can be divided into 8 parts - stages of development and formation. Myths and legends became its beginning and basis. This is followed by historical prose and stories about masters, written in an artistic style, ditties, poems and songs. Thus, poetry arose during the reign, and poetry arose during the Song era.
Chinese literature, created at the initial stage of cultural development in China, can be considered quite primitive. It is based mainly on the legends and myths of Ancient China; they were passed on by word of mouth. Such works can well be called folk art and legends.
However, it was these legends that gave impetus to general cultural development in China. And over time, separate genres and different variations of literature began to appear.
Culture Liyu and Confucius
At the beginning of the reign, the patrimonial system was practiced, which opened a new stage in the history of the state of China. And the most widespread trend in the literature of that time was the political views of the Chinese - ideals and judgments.
Each country during the Autumn and Spring periods had its own chronicle books, but the most representative was “Spring and Autumn”, written by Confucius. It told a story about the history of the state of Lu. Even to this day, in the art of modern Chinese literature, it does not lose its artistic value.
Confucius was known to be a great believer in the value of society. He worked on this chronicle for quite a long time, putting a lot of effort into it.
Unlike literature all over the world, fiction was not particularly popular in China; on the contrary, they used historiographical and ethical-philosophical genres. This was a direct consequence of the ideology of the notorious Confucius, which was and still is very popular in China.
Also, drama arose in China at a fairly late period. Genres of literature such as memoir and epistolary were less developed in comparison with European prose; they occupied a certain niche only by the 20th century. But essays, or bizi in Chinese, have been popular in China for more than two millennia. Of course, bizi cannot be called an essay in the full sense of the word, but still these two subgenres are very similar.
A special language for writing books
China, like other countries, has its own classics of literature. It represents an inextricable cultural movement that existed exactly until 1912. This is a huge number of works that were created over approximately 2400 years. That is, during the entire development of books of Chinese literature, colloquial speech never mattered - they were written in classical language. If literary history had been similar in Europe, then the classic writers of the 20th century would have written their works in Latin or Ancient Greek, languages that had long since died out and were not used in everyday speech. This is why Chinese classical literature is so different from world literature.
This special language, in which absolutely all books were written in China for 2400 years, was the imperial writing system for more than 1000 years. For this reason, it was necessary for all ruling classes to know all neo-Confucian literature.
This was the first time the world saw Chinese literature. A list of references can be found below.
Classics of literature - books
"Journey to the West". This unique novel was first published in the 1590s, the author is unknown for certain. Already in the 20th century, the opinion was established that it was written by the scribe Wu Cheng'en. The work can be classified as a fantasy genre. The book tells about the adventures of the king of the monkeys - It still occupies a leading position in sales, not only in China, but throughout the world.
"Dream in the Red Chamber." The author of the novel “The Dream of the Red Chamber” is Cao Xueqin. His work has become a classic for a number of reasons, the main one being its plot and narrative features. It is unlikely that there is another book in China that could describe Chinese life, traditions, customs, and the uniqueness of the national Chinese character and life with such accuracy and truthfulness. The reader observes all this against the backdrop of the story of the decline of two branches of the Jia family.
"River Backwaters" The classic Chinese novel opens up to the reader life in China during the reign of the Northern Song Dynasty, and tells about the so-called noble robbers who gathered in the rebel camp - Liangshanbo. The novel “River Backwaters” was the first written in the knightly genre - wuxia.
"Three Kingdoms" This novel also belongs to a special genre of Chinese literature. It was written back in the 14th century. It is based on folk tales, myths and legends that tell about the sad events of the 3rd century, when China was divided into three parts. All these three new countries waged a continuous bloody war among themselves. The main characters of the book are Chinese heroes who fought for justice.
The history of Chinese literature, of course, has a much larger number of books. We talked only about the most popular and in-demand works on the global book market.
It's time to get acquainted: Chinese literature presented in Russia
They are represented on the Russian book market in much smaller quantities than, for example, on the Japanese or Korean market. They are published and published, as a rule, in a rather modest edition, but the books are very expensive, and they are of interest only to specialists in this field. As a matter of fact, the demand for Chinese books is low.
The writer Mo Yan, who received the Nobel Prize for his literary works, made the world talk about Chinese literature. Our country was no exception. Mo Yan's first book translated into Russian is “Wine Country.” It came out of print on the very day its author received the prize, and aroused some interest among the population.
Soon translations of other new books by Mo Yan are expected, which will also appear on the shelves of Russian bookstores, and, perhaps, will take their place in the hearts of readers. Chinese literature in Russia is just beginning to gain an audience and shows great promise.
Difference in Perception
As already mentioned, the history of Chinese literature is unique; there are quite a large number of books written in a special language. Undoubtedly, they are very interesting, but contemporary Chinese writers such as Lisa See, Amy Tan, Anchi Ming and others are no less interesting.
Of course, when translated, their books sound slightly different, and they leave a different aftertaste - everyone knows that it is best to read books and watch films in the original language. It is known that there is a big difference between Russian and English, but an even greater gap separates languages such as Russian and Chinese. Literature in our countries is also different, with its own characteristics and highlights. But one cannot lose sight of the literature of the Celestial Empire, if only because of its uniqueness.
Modern books - three best novels
"Wild Swans" by Yun Zhang. A real epic. The plot of the book covers the life story of three generations of one family - mostly women. Events develop very slowly, and their description is extremely detailed, which may seem boring, but you should read the lines and you will feel the unique and unique Chinese flavor. And the plot of the novel “Wild Swans” is truly amazing and unusual. It tells about the strength and masculinity of three female generations, about the trials they had to go through: repression during the Chinese Cultural Revolution, persecution and torture. Despite all the difficulties and fears, they were lucky enough to build strong families and happy, harmonious relationships.
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan. This book, like the previous one, is dedicated to the fate of women. It is divided into many stories and short stories, which are told from the perspective of mothers, daughters and grandmothers. All of them are united by the author into the so-called “Club of Joy and Luck”. Amy Tan's novel is a very inspiring and life-affirming work that can impress even the most demanding reader.
"Girls from Shanghai" by Lisa See. The main heroines of the novel are young and often very frivolous girls, the offspring of rich parents who pose for photographs on wall calendars. There are no difficulties, failures or ups in their life. Every evening they relax in expensive restaurants and bars with the same frivolous friends, representatives of the golden youth. And then - the ruin of families, marriage, war, famine and many other troubles that will force girls to look at life from a completely different angle.
Development of modern literature
Books by Chinese writers began to conquer the world relatively recently and have already achieved quite great success. The development of literature continues, but at a modern level. And right now in China there is a so-called Literary Revolution, the largest in the entire history of the country. Today, about 30,000 books of various topics and genres are published in the Celestial Empire every year. It is worth noting that the most popular among the Chinese are fantasy works about the Shaolin masters. But, of course, other literary trends are also in demand.
Lost in translation
Much more familiar with Russian prose and classics than a Russian with Chinese. In the Celestial Empire, books by Dostoevsky, Turgenev, Ostrovsky and Tolstoy were published and republished. This is partly explained by the fact that it is relatively easier to translate a book from Russian into Chinese without losing special speech patterns.
But now this matter has been put on stream. The best translators work on books by modern Chinese writers, and it is worth noting that they do very well.
The library of Chinese literature is regularly replenished with new books, which are translated into several dozen different languages. We invite you to learn about the most famous writers of modern China.
Gao Xingjian
The future writer was born in 1940 in the province of Guangzhou. His craving for creativity began to manifest itself from an early age: he wrote his first story when he was still a 10-year-old child. But the writer had to burn all his impressive works during the Cultural Revolution, and he himself was sent into exile for educational purposes in a remote, remote village. There, Gao Xingjian continued to write.
Many of his works are banned to this day. Others publish quite freely. For example, the play “The Other Shore” came under censorship in 1986, while a year before that his book “A Dove Called Red Bull” was published.
In 1987, the writer left his native country and moved to France. And after he condemned the actions of the Chinese government in 1989, he was completely deprived of his citizenship.
Wang Meng
Wang Meng was born in the capital of the Celestial Empire, Beijing, in 1934. He started writing early, and by the age of 15 - by the beginning of the Cultural Revolution - he had already written two books. Wang Meng participated in the underground struggle against the government, for which he served time in a colony. After his release, the writer was offered the high post of party leader, but he preferred literature to politics.
For his novel “Long Live Youth,” which describes the lives of members of the underground resistance, Wang Meng received a second term and went into exile for 20 years. And he also wrote a book about this - “On the River”.
Jia Pingwa
Jia Pingwa is a very popular Chinese novelist. His book “Perishable City” is in particular demand, in which the writer talks about the temptations of the metropolis, its frantic pace of life and the other side of external sparkling prosperity. Many critics believe that Jia Pingwa is talking about Shanghai, but the writer himself does not confirm this information, nor does he refute it.
In addition, the writer also worked in the erotic genre. It is believed that some of the erotic books that are sold, so to speak, under the counter, were written by Jia Pingwa, although he himself long ago renounced authorship. Therefore, it cannot be reliably said that he really wrote them.
Today, Chinese literature amazes with its diversity and brightness. Undoubtedly, every book lover is obliged to read at least one book from the Middle Kingdom, because they differ from other works of world literature in their originality.
Photo collage EKD. Covers: Amazon.com
Many books about China are published in English. Unfortunately, they do not always reach Russia in translation or even in the original. However, these books are worth paying attention to, as they often deal with everyday life in the Middle Kingdom rather than historical or political events.Such works are important because they deal with problems that major scientists most often do not waste their time on. But it is precisely these problems that provide an understanding of what is happening in real China, not behind the walls of government buildings and in the richest corporations, but among local residents. EKD offers you a list of books that help you understand modern China from the point of view of ordinary people.
"The Age of Ambition: The Pursuit of Wealth, Truth, and Faith in the New China" by Evan Osnos (Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith In The New China. Evan Osnos)
Covers: Amazon.com
The book was written by a journalist from The New Yorker, Chicago Tribune and other famous publications, who lived in China for many years. Osnos covers various major events in China and people's reactions to them, with a particular focus on people's reactions online. It will be interesting to read about the scandal following the high-speed train crash in China. Netizens discussed that used materials were purchased during the construction of the railway, that the train was traveling at a speed that even Japanese companies, leaders in the production of high-speed trains, considered impossible.
The book also talks about the famous Li Yan, who promised teach everyone to speak English. Chinese youth wanted more from life, so they were willing to go into debt and buy the latest developments from Lee and his Crazy English brand. Osnos attributes this to the desire of young people from disadvantaged families to do everything to get out of the quagmire of poverty. The author describes how Li Yang's clients abandoned everything and moved to Beijing to open a business, which in 99% of cases failed in the first months.
Osnos sheds light on powerful Chinese officials and their many mistresses. An official can hire a special worker who will visit his mistresses’ apartments every day and inquire about their desires. Officials can maintain more than one mistress, but high-ranking ones and more than one hundred. At the same time, many young people cannot find a partner, since city girls would prefer the status of a wealthy mistress to the status of the wife of a less wealthy man.
After reading it, it becomes clear that the Chinese are not as lenient towards their government as they seem. Critical comments on Weibo (the equivalent of Twitter) often made Chinese Communist Party leaders sweat. Considering what is happening in China: bribes, mistresses, expensive cars for the sons of officials, recycled materials in the construction of schools - Chinese censorship no longer seems anachronistic. This is a completely reasonable decision for a party that wants to remain in power.
"The State of Special: Chinese Migrants and Taiwanese Independence" Sarah Friedman (Exceptional States: Chinese Immigrants and Taiwanese Sovereignty. Sara Friedman)
The book touches on an important aspect of relations between the PRC and the Republic of China. Ever wonder why Chinese women don't migrate to Taiwan? Taiwan is a Western-style liberal democracy. Theoretically, it is much easier to move there for permanent residence than to the West, and besides, they speak Chinese there. It turns out that not everything is so simple. Chinese women in Taipei are uninvited guests, they are avoided, they are looked at as hunters for a Taiwanese passport, which is rated much higher in the world than a Chinese one. Even love marriages are viewed by the Taiwanese authorities as nothing other than a desire to obtain Taiwanese citizenship. Chinese women in Taiwan have a kind of shadow status: they are not foreigners, but not citizens of the country either. They are treated with fear, contempt, and sometimes with undisguised disdain.
For mainland Chinese women, Taiwan is a more accessible Hong Kong. Taiwan has a higher standard of living and their healthcare system is one of the best in the world. The island has a good environment and relatively high salaries for low-skilled workers. For many Chinese women, moving to Taiwan is primarily a way to earn money and escape the poverty of their native villages and towns. For the sake of life in Taiwan (most often in Taipei, although other cities are not bad compared to the hopelessness of Chinese villages), Chinese women are ready to work as cleaners and waitresses at Starbucks, clean up after elderly husbands, and so on. To obtain Taiwan resident status, mainland Chinese must live on the island for approximately 8 years. For comparison, Canadian resident status can be obtained in 3-4 years.
"Lanterns of Wishes: Young Lives of New China" by Alec Ash ( Wish Lanterns: Young Lives in the New China. Alec Ash)
The book contains the stories of five young people who found themselves in Beijing. Four of them come from poor backgrounds. They do not have connections through which they can find well-paid jobs and arrange their lives. The young Tsinghua University student started as an intern at Harper's Bazaar magazine and became a famous designer. The musician and the village boy understand that they cannot find a place in Beijing, this city is too expensive for them. A girl from the family of a high-ranking official is defending her doctoral dissertations at Peking University and Cornell University (USA) and pondering whether China's political system is as good as the party praises it. As a result, the girl becomes disillusioned with China and leaves for Taiwan, which she calls China without communists with an even more developed economy.
“Lanterns of Wishes” is about the fact that dreaming is good. But very often the dreams of young Chinese are dashed against the wall of harsh reality. For generations, the Chinese have grown up with stories about meritocracy and the fact that perseverance and work will grind everything down. In Beijing, in most cases, no one needs them. Millions of the same people who want to find themselves come to Beijing from the provinces. The book is sobering and shows that young Chinese are now much more consciously considering moving to Beijing and expensive, lavish weddings with unfamiliar guests.
The author wants to tell you that the new generation of Chinese is rethinking the values of the old generation. Young people are increasingly inclined to invest money in emotions and impressions rather than in material things that they cannot afford without loans. Moving to Beijing or Shanghai so that parents in the village can boast of their son is already a rather dubious achievement, because with current housing prices they will never be able to buy an apartment in Beijing. Thus, the difference between young Chinese and their peers in the West is sharply decreasing.
“Modern China: A Very Short Introduction. Rana Mitter”
A very short book by an Oxford professor about how China became today's China. The author compares events in Chinese history with similar events in the history of other countries and how they came out of similar situations. The book is somewhat reminiscent of a history textbook. Mitter analyzes the social, political and economic spheres of life in China and puts the country's history through the litmus test of the question: “Is China modern?” The book is recommended for those who have a basic knowledge of China and its history: the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty, the May 4th Movement, the rise of the Communists to power, and so on.
“One Child: The Past and Future of China's Most Radical Experiment” by May Fong (One Child: The Past And Future Of China's Most Radical Experiment. May Fong)
A book about the “one family, one child” demographic policy and how it turned out for China. What was once a reasonable decision and a completely logical step for the development and growth of the Chinese economy turned into a tragedy. The author repeatedly illustrates what it means to be a good Chinese child, what moral stress this is accompanied by, and what happens if the child cannot withstand these stresses. Chinese children are obliged to listen to their parents and follow their wishes, neglecting their own.
As a result of the Qinghai earthquake in 2010, thousands of children, the only children of elderly parents, died under the rubble of schools. An entire generation was simply destroyed, and the elderly will now not be able to count on the help of their children and are forced to live at the expense of the state. The book helps reassess China's fertility experiment.
“Single Women: The Return of Gender Inequality in China” by Leta Hong Fincher (Leftover Women: The Resurgence of Gender Inequality in China. Leta Hong Fincher)
There is a famous saying that in modern China there are three genders: men, women and women with doctorates, and this book is about that. Modern women are faced with a choice: career or family, and many Chinese women believe that no one wants a wife who is better educated and earns more than her husband. In a country where it has historically been customary to marry early, a woman with a master’s degree, and even with a doctorate, is not just “stale goods.” This is a product that will be able to criticize her husband and is unlikely to accept his words as the final truth.
Women over 30 are most often forced to marry those who hardly meet their criteria for a future spouse: young girls have taken everyone away, and men do not want to marry those over 25. Marrying foreigners for whom age is not so important is also not the best prospect for a Chinese woman - society does not welcome this. Self-sufficient and ambitious women are left with either marrying those below them in social status or being single.
Factory Girls: From Villages to Cities in a Changing China by Leslie T. Chan (Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China. Leslie T. Chang)
This book is about those who made your iPhone and sewed your Nikes. While some in China study tirelessly to pass the gaokao (analogue of the Unified State Exam), enter Peking University or go to study at Harvard, others dream of enrolling in courses on using a computer and the Internet. The author writes about those people, often girls, who work in notorious factories where they produce chips for phones and sew sneakers. Working 12 hours a day for pennies, eating in street canteens, instant noodles and dreams of learning to type on a computer, leaving assembly line work and becoming a secretary. How life will completely change if you learn to translate from English even using the Baidu application. Girls with such dreams come home to the village for the holidays, bring televisions and become pride for their families in the villages. A book about how different China is. The China that we see in Beijing and other large cities, and the China in which simple workers without education live.
"Beijing Coma" Ma Jian ( BeijingComa. Ma Jian)
The only fiction book on this list. Ma Jian can rightfully be considered the Chinese Solzhenitsyn. He is a dissident who participated in the Tiananmen Square events in 1989 and now lives in London with his English wife, who translates his books into English. The book is about what it was like to live in the country during the Mao years, about the events of 1989 from the point of view of a participant. There are stories here of how, in search of income, young people in Beijing sold cigarettes and videos bought on the black market in Guangzhou (Guangdong Province). The story of how Hong Kongers forbade their children to meet mainland Chinese. We recommend the book to those who want to know the life of Chinese youth in those difficult times.
Alexander Kozlov
In 2019, a kind of anniversary of the latest Chinese literature will be celebrated. The so-called “May 4th Movement” originated in 1919. It marked a sharp turn in the views of the Chinese intelligentsia: a reorientation from traditional culture, dating back several thousand years, to Westernization.
In literature, it was marked by a rejection of the classical literary language and a transition to colloquial language; novels, stories, and plays were written according to the Western model. The Western form was filled with Chinese content. In fact, the Celestial Empire repeated the experience of the Land of the Rising Sun, half a century late. But these processes were much more painful: China was a weak state, engulfed in a civil war. In addition, foreign powers (especially Japan) were eager to grab a piece of the pie.
After the Communist victory in 1949 and the flight of the Nationalists led by Chiang Kai-shek to Taiwan, Chinese literature was divided into two branches: mainland (PRC) and island (Taiwan). To be more precise, three (meaning the literature of emigrants from the Middle Kingdom and their descendants living in the West).
Our material will focus mainly on the literature of communist China. Most of the novels included in our selection were published in the second half of the 20th century. And what is noteworthy: after the death of Mao Zedong, when the brutal campaigns of the Cultural Revolution subsided and the writers of the Celestial Empire had the opportunity to speak out.
Vivid examples of the so-called, which explored the phenomenon of the Cultural Revolution, are the novels “In the Valley of the Lotus” by Gu Hua and “Confession of a Former Red Guard” by Liang Xiaosheng (the title of the latter speaks for itself). Wang Meng and Zhang Xianliang spent more than twenty years in camps and “re-education” in the provinces, most of their work also belongs to the “literature of wounds and scars.”
One of the writers (Lao She) was believed to have been driven to suicide by the Red Guards in 1966. He never finished his last novel, which could well have been included in this collection. You can read about it in more detail.
The only noble present on this list is the well-known Mo Yan. A sort of “Chinese Sholokhov”. His foreign colleagues were indignant when they learned that he had been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Yes, he is a nomenklatura to whom the Communist Party gave everything. Yes, former political officer. But he, too, floridly, in the spirit of “hallucinogenic realism,” criticized the system in his famous novel “Wine Country.” Its plot is quite simple: a prosecutor from the center comes to the city to investigate cases of cannibalism. Local nomenklatura indulge in eating Chinese babies. Doesn't remind you of anything? The novel was published in 1992. Three years earlier, the People's Liberation Army of China liberated Tiananmen Square from student protesters (that is, youth). The then ruling party elite “ate” its own youth. So Mo Yang’s novel was a bold step in its own way. In terms of its level, it is lower than the works of Wang Meng and Lao She, but we must give both the book and the writer their due. For its time - its own literature.
In the process of studying the course “Culture of China”, the student should gain an understanding of basic concepts, the main directions of cultural development in various periods of Chinese history. Recommended literature meets this goal: Civilization. All about China. – M., 2001 .
The book examines issues arising at this stage of historical and cultural development of society. These are problems of cultural homogeneity of society, intercultural conflicts, basic patterns of cultural functioning of human communities, issues of cultural development of various regions of China. The monograph gives a holistic view of the theory and history of cultural policy in China, meets the state educational standard for cultural studies and is intended for lectures and seminars.
A new, unconventional look at the problems and processes occurring in culture in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. presented in the work of a famous cultural scientist: Vasiliev L.S. Cults, religions, traditions in China. – M., 2001. The materials are based on a generalization of the theory and practice of the formation of cults, religion and traditions in China.
Kravtsova M.E. History of Chinese culture. – St. Petersburg, 1999. This study covers most of the problems associated with the cultural processes that took place in Manchuria and other areas of the country. It examines the achievements of Chinese civilization in various branches of culture and the contribution of the Chinese people to the treasury of world culture.
The collection of articles by scientists - employees of the Smolensk State Pedagogical Institute meets the state educational standard in cultural studies and is intended for lectures and seminars: Life and customs of old China. – Smolensk, 2003. The topics of the articles are extremely diverse: the Chinese and their civilization; education; Chinese family: parents and children; how the Chinese live; funeral rites and ancestor worship; scientific knowledge of the Chinese. The study of these materials allows students to study more deeply the cultural issues of China at various stages of the existence of this multinational state.
People's Republic of China: ideology, science, culture, education. – M., 2001. This information publication broadly examines the issues of cultural development of the PRC at the present stage: achievements and prospects for further development in the third millennium.
Two manuals intended for university students will help you master the categorical-conceptual apparatus of the course and understand its specific terminology: Tkachenko G.A. Chinese culture: Dictionary-reference book. – M., 1999; Gorbachev B.N. Russian-Chinese phrasebook. – M, 1994.
When studying the course “Chinese Culture”, in addition to the recommended minimum of literature, special attention must be paid to studying the sources. When preparing for seminars, tests, and exams, one cannot do without studying primary sources.
The list of additional literature includes the best works of outstanding cultural historians, culturologists, art historians, philosophers, scientists and cultural researchers. To clarify many terminological and categorical concepts of cultural history, various reference books, recommended as additional ones, play an important role.
