Two Writers and the Cultural Revolution: Lao Shê and Ch'en Jo-hsi
Two Writers and the Cultural Revolution: Lao Shê and Ch'en Jo-hsi
Edited by George Kao
1980
213 pages
ISBN 962-201-202-7
The Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) wrecked the lives of millions of Chinese people; writers and intellectuals were particularly vulnerable. This volume, made up entirely of translations from the Chinese, tells the story of how the Cultural Revolution of 1966–76 impinged on the lives of two writers in widely and poignantly different ways.
Lao Shê's (1899–1966) best known novel, translated as Rickshaw Boy, was published a generation ago. Chen Jo-hsi (1938– ) won critical acclaim for her Execution of Mayor Yin and Other Stories only recently. With all their obvious differences in age, sex, place of birth and early background, both are schooled in the Western creative tradition, and each in his or her own time had returned to China with a deep sense of dedication to the new society. The so-called Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution ended Lao Shê's long and variegated career—in fact, his life—and in an indirect way was responsible for launching Chen Jo-hsi's.
Presented here are selections from Lao Shê's pre-1949 output, his fictions, considered artistically superior to the plays he wrote in his later years. Also introduced are new Chen Jo-hsi writings hitherto unavailable in English. Together with essays about the two writers, these works focus attention on the important question of man's—and the artist's—precarious fate in the world of today.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
PREFACE — 1
Part I LAO SHE
DEATH AND THE NOVEL—On Lao She’s “Suicide” by Paul Bady — 5
REHABILITATION: A Chronological Postscript — 15
LAO SHE IN ENGLAND by King Hu trans. by Cecilia Y. L. Tsim — 21
LAO SHE IN AMERICA—Arrival and Departure by George Kao — 27
Part II LAO SHE’S FICTIONS
“Camel”—Through Western Eyes — 37
END OF THE RICKSHAW BOY trans. by Perry Link — 39
AN OLD AND ESTABLISHED NAME trans. by William A. Lyell — 51
OLD LIU trans. by William A. Lyell — 57
About “The Drum Singers”—A Lost Original — 66
THE DRUM SINGERS trans. by Helena Kuo — 67
Cats, Black and White — 76
CITY OF CATS trans. by James E. Dew — 77
Part III CHEN JO-HSI
CHEN JO-HSI: Memories and Notes by Richard M. McCarthy — 129
CHI-CHEN WANG: An Appreciation — 131
TING YUN trans. by Chi-Chen Wang — 133
THE TUNNEL trans. by Chi-Chen Wang — 141
Chen Jo-hsi’s First Novel: THE REPATRIATES — 150
“I LOVE CHAIRMAN MAO” trans. by Chi-Chen Wang — 155
REUNION IN NANKING trans. by Howard Goldblatt — 159
Part IV CHINESE TEXTS — 171
NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS — 211
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AUTHOR(s)
Lao Shê (1899–1966), an established novelist well known for his criticisms of the ills of traditional Chinese society, was persecuted to death at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution.
Chen Jo-hsi (1938– ), a young writer at the time, was born in Taiwan but went to live in the PRC during the first seven years of the Cultural Revolution. Her experience there resulted in the novel The Execution of Mayor Yin (1976), the first book to give readers a realistic glimpse of life during the Cultural Revolution.
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EDITOR(s)
George Kao was founding editor of Renditions.