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6/2011
T $ Ì H 28
R Ł N I
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Ñ T C Å
COVER STORY
TRANSLATING CHINA 翻译大师沙博理译读中国
60 years after arriving in China, Brooklyn-born translator Sidney Shapiro has become a cultural icon
40
COVER STORY
WHO / WHAT IS CHINA READING? 中国人在读谁的书/哪些书
A look at who—and what—Chinese people are reading
Issue 6/2011
52
COVER STORY
GUERILLA PUBLISHING 出版新潮流——作家与读者 零距离
How writers are starting to take their work straight to the people
3
KALEIDOSCOPE
18
THE LAST MAHJONG VILLAGE 最后一个麻将村
The end of a gaming era
75 SOCIAL CHINESE
YOUR KUNG FU IS WEAK! 你的功夫太弱了！
Unleash a verbal roundhouse with this guide to talking like a kung fu master
58
TRAVEL FEATURE
WHAT LURKS IN THE LAKE 揭开湖怪之谜
A search for China's Loch Ness monster takes you through some of the country's most breathtaking scenery
87
CHI LE MA DREAMS OF WINE AND DUCK “红楼宴”之酒酿鸭《红楼 This lavish-looking duck dish is not just literary, it’s simple and healthy
4
COOKING CLASSES
Learn how to make dishes from the magazine in Chef Sue's regional cuisine series. See our website for more information.
1 EDITOR’S LETTER 卷首语
7 NEWS 新闻
8 THE HARD SEAT 多棱镜
9 STRANGE BUT TRUE 趣闻
13 STREET TALK Fang Qianhua (Mahjong)
街头俚语
14 DON’T MISS 不可错过
中国制造
84 ON THE CHARACTER
66
魅力汉字
CITY STROLL
TWO DAYS IN SHAOXING 绍兴两日
by
Getty (Boat), Tyler Jiang (Food), Daniel Allen (Landscape),
and
17 MADE IN CHINA
Photographs
Stone bridges, apricot blossoms and waterways—discovering the quaint charms of China’s most literary city
92 PIONEER 对话先锋
94 ADVENTURES IN CHINESE 我学我行
96 THE GEEK CORNER 高手学堂
网 ON THE WEB
78
AUDIO/VISUAL WORLD THE PIANO IN THE FACTORY
www.theworldofchinese.com INTERVIEWING SHAPIRO
More from our talk with cultural icon Sidney Shapiro, including mp3s
《钢的琴》 Finding notes of beauty in this bittersweet comedy about a father desperate to hold onto his daughter
Issue 6/2011
THE KING OF FAIRY TALES
Questioning Zheng Yuanjie, one of China’s most popular children’s authors
5
A LAW PROFESSOR
A GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL
AN EX-COP A PRODIGY FROM A BROKEN HOME
A WOULD-BE SOCIOLOGIST
I S
C H I N A
T he i r a g e s ran g e f ro m t w e n t i e s t o m i ddl e - a g e, t he y c o m e f ro m di f fe re n t part s o f t he c o u n t r y an d di f fe re n t w al k s o f l i fe, bu t t he se f i v e au t ho rs hav e o n e t hi n g i n c o m m o n : o v e r t he past fe w ye ars, t he i r w o rk s hav e be e n am o n g t he be st se ll i n g , m o st c ri t i c al l y ac cl ai m e d bo o k s i n C hi n a . T he se au t ho rs’ n o v e l s, w hi ch r u n t he g am u t f ro m m y st e r i e s t o t e l l - al l s, are v a st l y d i f fe re n t i n st y l e an d c o n t e n t , bu t t he y s hare a b ri l l i an c e an d a m a g n e t i sm t hat has m an a g e d t o c a pt u re t he i m a g i n at i o n o f a c o u n t r y an d pu t t he m o n t he ro ad t o i n t e r nat i o n al fam e.
40
TIME TRAVEL ROMANCE A PHILOSOPHICAL FAIRY TALE
HISTORY MADE MAINSTREAM
CARTOONS WITH PROBLEMS
ANCIENT TOMB MYSTERIES
R E A D I N G ?
B Y B E I J I N G Z H U (朱蓓静)
S o m e w e re re l e ase d o n l i n e, ro ck e t i n g i n t o t h e pu bl i c c o n s c i o u sn e ss w i t h m i l l i o n s— so m e t i m e s e v e n hu n dre d s o f m i l l i o n s— o f hi t s; o t he rs hav e be e n a da pt e d i n t o re c o rd- bre ak i n g T V sho w s, an d st i l l o t he rs hav e so l d m i l l i o n s o f c o pi e s i n bo o k fo r m . T he y are C hi n a’s m o st p o pu l ar bo o k s, as de t e r m i n e d by t he be st se l l e r l i st o f B e i j i n g X i ro n B o o k s, C hi n a’s bi g g e st pri v at e l y o w n e d pu bl i shi n g c om pan y. T h o u g h t he se f i v e n o v e l s re pre se n t a ran g e o f g e n re an d s t y l e, t he y s ha re o n e t hi n g i n c o m m o n : s w a r m s o f de v o t e d fan s w ho hav e c o m e t o re l y o n t he bo o k s as a so u rc e o f f u n an d e sc a pi sm — o r ju st an an t i do t e t o re al l i fe. Issue 6/2011
41
Photograph by
CFP
A WOULD-BE SOCIOLOGIST
DI AN 42
“I am Di An. Don’t mention my dad anymore,” says the writer, growing increasingly impatient. During interviews, it seems, questions about her family were almost inevitable. As the daughter of two accomplished writers, Di An, born in 1983, seems to see her family identity as more of a burden than a privilege. “It’s loneliness that teaches me how to write, not my dad,” she declares. After graduating from high school, she traveled to France to study medical sociology. Living in Tours, a city 200 kilometers away from Paris, she found herself isolated—not only by the language barrier, but by the quiet surroundings of the tiny city. “The loneliness in a wild land spurred my desire to express,” she recalls. She began reflecting on her own life and the lives of those close to her. These reflections gave birth to her first work, “Older Sister’s Jungle” (《姐姐的丛林》 Ji0jie de C5ngl!n), a novel about the growing pains of two sisters, their tangled relationships and the fate of two generations in their family. The narrator’s hard working but plain sister admires their attractive, loose aunt, a photographer who leaves for France. The narrator, a talented artist who falls in love with a boyfriend her parents arrange for her sister, expresses her moods vividly through her paintings. The novel explores the dreams, love and regrets of young people in a beautifully sad voice for which Di An’s writing has been widely praised by critics. “I made up a story and let it bear an array of complicated sentiments that are beyond explanation,” Di An says. In the same year that “Older Sister’s Jungle” appeared in the literary journal Harvest—just around the time she turned 20—Di An started work on “Farewell to Heaven”《告 别天堂》 G3obi9 Ti`nt1ng), a novel that tells the coming-of-age stories of four friends, dating back to their high school love affairs. The novel has been a hit among readers, who are moved by the characters’ inflictions of love and pain on each other. If not for her new writing career, Di An would now be a PhD student in medical sociology in France, going on field trips with her supervisor to survey a population that suffers from a specific type of cancer. She has long had an interest in sociology. The topic of her undergraduate thesis was “Musicians in the Subways of Paris.” For now she is taking a break from her studies: writing is her priority.
Shi Yue. “Those Happenings of the Ming Dynasty.” Beijing: China Friendship Publishing Company, 2009. Print.
Issue 6/2011
HISTORY MADE MAINSTREAM
M!ngch1o N3xi8 Sh#r
THOSE HAPPENINGS OF THE MING DYNASTY
《明朝那些事儿》
Remember high school history? Remember anything of what you read in those big blocks of text, filled with dates and facts and faceless names? Well maybe you would if your textbook had opened this way: “Alright, I’m starting my work tonight.” Shi Yue (石悦), a civil servant in Guangdong, is the author of “Those Happenings of the Ming Dynasty,” a fashionable historical novel series. Pen-named “Bright Moon in Those Days” (当年明月, D`ngni1n M!ngyu-), the author started to publish installments of the first novel online in 2006. Three prolific years later, seven of the novels had been published both online and in print. By bringing historical figures to life, the series has rekindled a public passion for Ming history. Flipping to the first chapter, you’ll find a made-up personal document of Zhu Yuanzhang (1328-1398), the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). The document includes his name, gender, blood type, educational background, occupation, family background, years of birth and death, his favorite color, social relations, motto and major experiences. “I have a habit in my writing,” Shi writes in the preface. “Early in my life, I read too many pedant-style books, so I hate writing that pretends to be profound. In fact, history itself is exciting, and all historical stories can be written in an appealing way. That’s what I am doing, and I am looking forward to hearing what you think.” Based on real historical documents, the novel starts from the birth of Zhu Yuanzhang and ends with the suicide of Emperor Chongzhen (1611-1644) and the fall of the dynasty. Covering 300 years of history, the book takes a panoramic look at the fates of the 17 Ming Dynasty emperors, high officials and other influential figures, while digging into political conflicts and wars. Characters are psychoanalyzed and the economic and social systems of the times are heavily commented upon Ye Xiaomin, a 25-year-old reader from Shanghai, says he is fascinated by this style of storytelling. “It presents serious history in a humorous tone, which is rare for heavy history books,” Ye says. “I had great fun reading this, and it never got even a bit tedious.” Another reader’s online comment is almost as creative as the book itself. “With the patience of Swiss watchmakers, the seriousness of German workers, the romance of French winemakers and the humor of American actors, the book tells the story of a peasants’ revolt over 600 years ago, and continues with the rest of the history of the Ming Dynasty.”
43
AN EX-COP
A YI 44
During his mid-20s, Ai Guozhu realized he was wasting his life. A policeman in a small town, Ai wiled away his days playing poker, round after round. Every day was the same until he was struck with an epiphany: “After playing for the whole night, the director suggested they change seats clockwise. At that moment Ai Guozhu saw his bleak future in the faces of the rotating players: the 20-year-old policeman would become the 30-year-old deputy director, then the 40-year-old director, and then the 50-year-old researcher.” Ai Guozhu is a fictional character in a novel, but his story might as well be true. It mirrors the life of author A Yi—whose real name is also Ai Guozhu. A Yi started out as a small-town policeman, but the 26-year old’s restlessness sent him packing to a new job as a sports reporter for Zhengzhou Evening News. Meanwhile, he started to read extensively, devouring the works of Borges, Camus, Kafka, Kundera and Márquez. In fact, before he gained fame in Beijing as a writer, he was already well known by other writers for his habit of “reading novels at any occasion,” even the dinner table. A Yi’s stories are based on his experiences as a policeman—detectives, murders, explosions and missing persons. A Yi published his first collection of short stories “Gray Stories” (《灰故事》 Hu~g&shi) in 2008, followed in 2010 by his second collection, “The Bird, It Saw Me” (《鸟，看见我了》Ni2o, K3nji3n W6 Le). The title comes from a story in the collection about a murder on the outskirts of a city. Before the victim dies, he utters to the murderer, “You think no one saw your crime? The bird in the tree saw it.” The murderer becomes terrified of birds, and devotes his life to trying to wipe them out. Finally, someone asks the murderer why he kills birds, and he answers, “I hate them.” “Why?” the person asks. “Because the bird saw me,” he says. A police officer overhears their conversation and instinctively arrests the murderer. A Yi’s stories aren’t just one-dimensional, go-forthe-gut detective tales. His work portrays young people’s struggle living in and trying to escape the confines of small-town life, and the conflict between people’s desire to change their lives and the fear of failure. One reader commented online, “In his stories, every small potato has his or her dream, for which he or she has to pay a high price.” On bookselling websites, A Yi has consistently received high ratings from readers, and has won praise from critics, peers and fans. Overseas versions of his novels will also soon be released. Chinese poet Bei Dao once praised A Yi: “He is in the ranks of some of the most excellent Chinese novelists I have seen in recent years. He has the same loyalty and passion for writing as for living.”
Issue 6/2011
CARTOONS WITH PROBLEMS
EVERYONE IS CRAZY
Three brothers who repeatedly threaten suicide but never succeed; a couple who fret over every detail of day-to-day life; a woman struggling with a shopping addiction…the absurdity goes on. What’s the underlying message here? “Everyone is crazy!” This is both the title and the moral of the latest work by Zhu Deyong (朱德庸), a popular Taiwan cartoonist. The dark comic purports to reveal “a sick society and a sick era,” full of individuals wracked with a potpourri of problems. The cartoon is divided into six chapters: “Everyone Has Love,” “Everyone Has Fun,” “Everyone Has a Dream,” “Everyone Has Faults,” “Everyone Has Money” and—last but not least—“Everyone is Crazy.” “People in our era tend to have many complaints but little feeling,” observes Zhu in his preface. “They have sophisticated mindsets but monotonous behaviors. Our brain capacity is expanding but the functional area of our minds is shrinking. What’s worse is that urban outlooks and lifestyles around the world are more and more alike.” The author warns that the sense of loss in our society is the result of aimless pursuits. “Everyone is striving for unfounded commercialized ‘happiness,’” he goes on. “The expanding supply of ‘happiness,’ however, only spurs our growing greed for material goods. When we ‘progress’ too hastily, only a few can succeed in making money, whereas the majority get nothing but mental problems.” The cartoon paints scenes of people from all walks of life—murderers, call girls, barbers, guards, psychologists—who take the stage one after another and perform their various absurd roles. The book is being adapted into a modern drama, the director of which calls Zhu Deyong more than a cartoonist: “In addition to his pictures is really deep text, making him more like a philosopher whose words one finds power in.” Li Mingzhu, a 26-year-old female psychological consultant in Beijing, has been following installments of the cartoon published in Beijing Evening News. “What attracts me is that the author speaks an apparent truth that has been ignored by many of us,” she says. What is that ignored truth? Put simply: “Walk slowly in our era,” as the author answers in the title of his preface, which responds to the dangers of China’s fast-paced material culture. It is this philosophy of leading a simple and slow-paced life that makes the cartoon more than just a collection of crazy jokes.
《大家都有病》 D3ji` D4uy6u B#ng Zhu Deyong. “Everyone is Crazy.” Beijing: Modern Publishing House, 2011. Print.
45
46
A GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL
WANG XIAOFANG
“He sat on a chair (in the prison) with desperate and wandering eyes, holding the smoking end of a cigarette in his fingers,” Wang recalls. It was December 2001 when Wang Xiaofang saw the picture of Ma Xiangdong, his old boss, online. It was one of the last photos that would be taken of Ma before he died. Wang was in a bad way himself, but the picture gave him just the jolt he needed to transmute the ugly past he was trying to forget into cathartic gold. “I printed the photo out and put it on my desk. Looking at the photo, I wrote over 10,000 words without stopping.” These 10,000 words would become the opening pages of “Secretary of the Mayor” (《市长秘书》Sh#zh2ng M#sh$), the best-selling novel that changed Wang’s life. Wang Xiaofang’s personal experiences as a corrupt official’s secretary were just as dramatic as the plots in his anti-corruption stories. After graduating with a M.S. degree in 1991, he took the government recruitment exam and landed a research position with the Shenyang Municipal Government. Due to his sharp mind and excellent writing skills, Wang quickly won the trust of his supervisors. In 1997, he was promoted to full-time secretary of then-Vice Mayor Ma Xiangdong, who was found guilty in a huge corruption case two years later and sentenced to death in 2001. With Ma’s fall, came a miserable episode in Wang’s life. As the corrupt official’s ex-secretary, Wang went through an endless series of interrogations. When the case was eventually cleared, he quit the job with the hopes of becoming a businessman. Due largely to lack of experience, Wang’s business ventures all ended in failure. The once successful man suffered mentally. For a time he even suffered a physical collapse and was on the verge of death. Then he started writing. In “Secretary,” his first novel, Wang details the ups and downs of his main character, a mayor’s secretary, in his service to two corrupt officials. Originally titled “Garden of the Soul” (《心灵庄园》X~nl!ng Zhu`ngyu1n), “Secretary” won the prize of “Excellent Novel” in Sina’s Second Contest of Original Chinese Literature. The novel rocketed to fame, and was a national bestseller for weeks. Since then, Wang has continued his literary career, penning 12 more books. However, “Secretary” remains his most personal work. Like the protagonist in his novel, Wang has found solace from life-altering hardships in his writing. “The best way for me to relieve stress is through writing,” Wang once said in an interview, discussing the stress of having to restart his career. His novel “Notes of Civil Servants” (《公务员笔记》 G4ngw&yu1n B@j#) will be published abroad in various languages..
Issue 6/2011
ANCIENT TOMB MYSTERIES
GRAVE ROBBERS' CHRONICLES
“Think you are brave? Challenge your guts!” So dares the introduction of “The Grave Robbers’ Chronicles,” a hit series that, over the past four years, has pioneered China’s budding horror novel genre. With seven books published, and the eighth one in the works—along with a few recently released English translations—“Grave Robbers” is continuing to ride on a massive wave of popularity. The story opens with a mysterious case: 50 years ago, a group of grave robbers unearth a book from the Warring States period (475BC-221BC), which reveals the location of an ancient tomb. After finding the underground tomb, nearly all of the thieves die mysteriously. 50 years later, the grandson of one of the grave robbers discovers the mystery in notes left by his grandfather. With several experienced grave robbers, he sets out to solve the case, but what they find is beyond imagination… Bizarre as the plot may be, the author Xu Lei (徐磊) could not be any more normal. A young man in his twenties, Xu is more popularly known among fans as “Uncle Three.” He appears by his pen name in the story as the protagonist, whose grandfather was a grave robber, and who owns a small antique store in Hangzhou. “I have had a particular interest in stories like ancient tombs since my childhood,” Xu said in an interview. For him, writing novels on grave robbing seemed a natural career path. In 2007, after being released online, the first “Grave Robber” serial took Chinese netizens by storm, receiving nearly seven million hits over two years. These days, readers’ enthusiasm shows no sign of dwindling. The seventh serial has been published in print and the ongoing eighth is grabbing at the hearts of fans. Wang Kangkang, a 25-year-old Beijing native, has been a loyal fan of the serial for years. “The plot is engaging because it’s endless, forcing you to keep reading to find out the truth,” she says, adding that the author is “digging deeper and deeper into the earth.” For Wang, as engaging as the bottomless mystery are vivid scenes rife with suspense and terror. She recalls one night when, before bed, her roommate asked if they should leave the overhead oven light on in the kitchen, she was suddenly struck by the notion that the eerie light in her kitchen was just how she imagined the eternal candle of the tomb. The lasting popularity of the serial reflects, in a sense, ordinary people’s wish to get away from the mundane and immerse themselves in an imaginary world. This “escape to horror” trend is echoed by comments online: “Few books or films would make me afraid of going to the toilet at midnight, but ‘The Grave Robbers’ Chronicles’ does,” reads one. “It keeps you in a state of perpetual suspense. Once you’ve started, you can’t put the book down.”
《盗墓笔记》 D3om& B@j# Xu Lei. “The Grave Robbers’ Chronicles.” Beijing: China Friendship Publishing Company, 2007. Print. Xu Lei, trans. by Kathy Mok. “Grave Robbers’ Chronicles, Volume 1: Cavern of the Blood Zombies.” San Francisco: ThingsAsian Press, 2011. Print.
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A LAW PROFESSOR
HE JIAHONG 48
When He Jiahong’s rape-and-murder mystery “Blood Crimes” (《血之罪》Xu- Zh~ Zu#) was released in France, it was a revelation: he was heralded by local papers as “China’s Sherlock Holmes.” Back home in China, the response was somewhat more mixed. After the original version of the book was criticized for not being “real” enough, He re-wrote the book to include, not only a grisly murder, but several gritty sex scenes. There is, of course, nothing innately surprising about Grisham-esque crime novels filled with pulp fiction thrills—unless, of course, you look at the author, a devoted husband and respected law professor at Renmin University of China. Both roles have proved crucial to He Jiahong’s literary career, but it’s the first one that helped cultivate He’s original love for writing. In 1977, before law school was even a glint in He’s eye, he was working on a construction site in Beijing and writing on the side. Though He’s countless submissions to literary magazines were largely ignored, it was at this time that another part of his life began to flourish. The doctor at the construction site where He worked was a beautiful young woman, and it wasn’t long before the two fell in love. “She thought I was different from other young men and always encouraged my writing,” he recalls. But when the fumbling writer proposed marriage, the doctor’s parents refused—his status was too low. Upon seeing the young couple’s torment, the parents eventually accepted the couple’s union, but on one condition: he had to attend college. For the sake of love, the young man took the college entrance exam. This time, fate favored him; He got into the law major at Renmin University of China and the two finally got married. On the couple’s 30th anniversary this year, He told his wife, “Encountering you was my biggest fortune in life.” Their marriage determined more than just his personal and career paths; by sending him to law school, it also helped to shape He Jiahong’s literary career, which is heavily based on his knowledge of Chinese law. Still, as a law professor, He sees teaching and researching as his major tasks, and literary writing as his hobby. “When writing academic papers, I mainly enjoy the result,” he says. “But when writing novels, I enjoy both the process and the result.” With five novels under his belt, and growing critical adulation—especially from foreign readers—the professor has a veritable second career on his hands. In “Blood Crimes”—He’s most widely praised work to date—he follows protagonist Hong Jun, a lawyer railing against a miscarriage of justice that lands an innocent man in jail for murder. This, and He’s other works, have been praised not only for compelling plots, packed with fascinating information about the justice system, but for the writing itself, which is noted for its vivid, lyrical descriptions of everyday life. He is currently in the process of re-releasing his books as a serial with new titles based on the “crime” theme. These days, the Renmin professor’s name is continuing to spread internationally; not only has his serial been translated into French, Italian and English, but the rights to “Blood Crimes” were recently purchased by Penguin. “We acquired ‘Blood Crimes’ simply because we felt it was a strong story, well told, that incorporated the classic tradition of fine crime writing employed in a story that could only be told in China,” says Jo Lusby, head of Penguin China. “The idea of re-evaluating the sins of the past is one common to great writing, but in China that’s a particularly poignant subject.”
Al! . Y6ngyu2n Zh3n Hans. “Ali’s Eternal Stop.” Changchun: North China Women & Children Publishing House, 2010. Print.
Issue 6/2011
A PHILOSOPHIC AL FAIRY TALE
ALI'S ETERNAL STOP
《阿狸·永远站》
Stacked against horror novels filled with blood and adventure, a fairy tale about a fox’s search for eternity might not sound particularly compelling. But over the past two years, Ali—a red fox with pointy ears, white underwear and short legs—has managed to win over the hearts of China’s online readers. Even the fox’s QQ emoticons are surfacing everywhere on the internet. Ali is the brainchild of Xu Han (徐瀚), or Hans, a graduate of Tsinghua University’s School of Arts, who created the fairy tale “Ali’s Eternal Stop,” first published in print in 2010. “The story of Ali is for the dreams of those who have not yet grown, who are growing, or who have already grown old,” the author is often quoted as saying. On a snowy morning, Ali boards a red bus with no terminal and starts a quest to find “eternity.” On his way, he encounters various people who all have different answers as to what “eternity” is. He also learns from a legend that “eternity” is a place that can never be reached. When he returns home for dinner, his mother tells him, “I love you forever,” and at that moment, Ali realizes where “eternity” lies. Despite the somewhat heavy subject matter, “Ali’s” has the friendly aspect of a children’s book, with fantastical illustrations rendered in rich, sunny colors. According to Hans, Ali—doe-eyed, cuddly and painted fire-engine red—was first born out of high-school puppy love. “I drew Ali for a girl,” he says. “She loved cats, so I wanted to draw her a cat-like cartoon character, but it turned out looking more like a fox. That was the birth of Ali.” The brave, sincere fox and his simple life philosophy have resonated deeply with Chinese readers. “In this sophisticated world, there is a longing for sincerity deep in our hearts,” wrote one reader on douban.com, a popular book, movie and music website where users can share reviews. T h is s en ti m en t is ech o ed i n th e publisher’s description of the book: “The tale warms your heart with its healing power and touching style. In Hans’ works, there is a message that the abundance of material goods can never be replaced with the scarcities of the spiritual world, and only love can be everyone’s home.”
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A PRODIGY FROM A BROKEN HOME
QI JINNIAN
At 25, Qi Jinnian acts older than her age and she has good reason. Though, like many of her contemporaries she was born an only child, Qi didn’t spend her childhood being coddled by a bevy of adoring adults. Saddled with a legacy of complicated and often distant relationships with her parents, the young writer has spent years and several novels working through the questions that arise out of tangled relationships and alienation. These difficult themes have dominated much of her work, most strikingly in her recent work, “Melody of Dust” (《尘 曲》Ch9n Q^). “My adolescence happened to coincide with my mom’s menopause,” she says, recalling the tense relationship she had with her mother growing up. Qi’s mother gave birth to her at the age of 36 and her father moved to Xinjiang when she was about two or three, coming home only once or twice a year. Her parents later divorced and throughout her childhood, she lived alone with her strict mother. The absence of her father has been a major preoccupation in both Qi’s life and her writing. It was his influence that helped form her pen name, Qi Jinnian, which consists of qi or seven, her lucky number, and Jinnian, a name given to her by her father, referring to a three-color flower that blossoms every spring in his hometown. These emotional forces manifested themselves powerfully in Qi’s first novel, “Lamp of the Dead” (《大地之灯》 D3d# zh~ D8ng). Published in 2007, this coming-of-age story follows the life paths of two kids: a Tibetan girl whose parents died in a pilgrimage, and a baby left behind by a couple of “educated youth,” who are eager to return to the city. The novel was a sensation among critics, both in China and abroad, who were amazed at the maturity and depth of emotion displayed by the then-21-year-old writer. The US publisher called the novel “amazing,” commenting that it captures utterly different regional cultures, religious backgrounds and traumas of a generation. The novel was a breakthrough for Qi, who, up until that point, had been known mostly as a “youth writer,” creating stories filled with the kinds of emotions that appeal to adolescents. Qi began her writing career at the prodigious age of 17, when she won the 2003 “New Concept Writing Contest,” and subsequently began collaborating with fellow post-80s writer Guo Jingming, who had founded two literary magazines aimed at teenagers. Qi spent years contributing to the magazines, until her contract was up in 2010. “I don’t want to be a popular writer of youth literature,” she said then, explaining her decision to leave Guo’s team. “The target readership of his magazines is mostly teenagers.” Though it’s an age group she understands well—and one with which the poignant, raw emotions of her writing resonate— Qi wants to move beyond this relatively small group and expand her writing to a broader audience and subject matter. With her first novel, and her well-received latest work, it seems that she already has accomplished the goal that she professed in 2010, “I hope to attract readers older than me.”
Issue 6/2011
TIME TRAVEL ROMANCE
STARTLING BY EACH STEP
“Waking up from my dream, I found myself in a body that lived hundreds of years ago.” Time-travel stories have soared in popularity recently in China, but the huge sensation of “Startling by Each Step” and the TV series adapted from the novel are not merely a result of this trend. Tong Hua (桐华), the author of the time-travel novel, is a graduate of Peking University who now lives in the US. She started to publish installments online in 2005. Though much of it takes place in the past, the story opens in the present. The female protagonist, Zhang Xiao, is a white-collar worker in the big city. One day, while quarreling with her boyfriend on the street, Zhang Xiao is hit by a car and her soul travels back to the Qing Dynasty (1636-1911). She begins a new life in the imperial palace, where she has to tread cautiously. Due to her knowledge of Qing history, she knows the fate of each figure she interacts with. Though she starts off falling for the eighth prince, practicality eventually trumps love, and she turns to the fourth prince–the man who would beat out the other princes for the crown, and later become known as Emperor Yongzheng (1678-1735). “When I was writing the female protagonist, I mixed characteristics of modern people in her,” says the author. “She is not the kind of woman who will sacrifice fearlessly for love. Rather, she will flinch, hesitate, suffer a sense of insecurity and even be selfish. These traits reflect the thoughts of modern women and the choices they would make.” It’s not just a pragmatic attitude toward love that sets this female protagonist apart from the more idealistic counterparts found in love stories. Her determination to seize her own fate rather than being maneuvered by men also speaks to modern, independent women. Nevertheless, the female protagonist’s decision has ignited heated debates among fans. Chinese netizens use the word nuexin (虐心,heart-wrenching) to describe their feelings after reading or watching the story. One of the hottest debate topics on forums like Baidu Tieba is, “Do you support the fourth prince or the eighth prince?” Literally, “Are you a member of the fourth prince party or the eighth prince party?” (你是四爷党还是八爷 党？N@ sh# S#y9d2ng h1ishi B`y9d2ng?) Chen Ye, a 25-year-old reader from Shanghai, explains her preference for the novel this way: “The plots make sense and you don’t find any logical flaws. The author makes up a good story by paying attention to details.” In fact, “Startling” is so accurate in terms of historical events, dates and figures, that many fans have taken it as a serious historical novel, though the author claims she is just a writer of romantic stories. For others, the novel’s allure rests in the fantasy of time-travel. This is the case for Liu Yueyan, a 27-year-old woman from Beijing, who says after reading the book, she was struck with a fantasy of her own: “When visiting the Terracotta Warriors in Xi’an, I was suddenly struck with the idea that lightning would strike and take me back in time to the Qin Dynasty.”
《步步惊心》 B&b& J~ngx~n Tonghua. “Startling by Each Step.” Changsha: Hunan Literature & Arts Publishing House, 2011. Print.
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GUERILLA PUBLISHING BY TOM IRELAND
PRODUCING SCANDALOUS STORIES IN THE DIGITAL AGE
Dubbed “the Whore of the Orient,” Shanghai has always had a seedy reputation. One early missionary to the city once proclaimed, “If God allows Shanghai to endure, he will owe Sodom and Gomorrah an apology.” Well, sorry Sodom, sorry Gomorrah, Shanghai is still there, still seedy and bursting at the seams with sex, drugs and money. And in the digital age it is even easier for writers and publishers to expose the nefarious goings-on we all secretly want to know about. Groups such as the Shanghai-based collective H.A.L. Publishing are taking full advantage of this to produce exciting, original writing. “Amidst the tumult of economic explosion, identity crises, national glory, and East-meets-West clichés are individuals living their lives like anyone else,” reads their website, and H.A.L. aims to tell those stories. H.A.L.’s second collection of short stories, “Middle Kingdom Underground” (originally entitled, "Sex, Drugs and Money in Shanghai," is sure to cause a
SEX DRUGS by
Getty
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Photograph
stir when it comes out this December. Comprising the work of 12 authors, the book offers a diversity of lurid tales about real life in the PRC. “We wanted to dive straight into the underbelly of this city,” Wahlstrom says, “and the material is indeed pretty strong.”
AND MONEY IN SHANGHAI
PARTY LIKE IT'S 1984 In their first release, grassroots publishers H.A.L. gather a collection of stories that explore Shanghai and the foreign experience in China. Filled with dark humor and dream-like sequences, the book reveals the unique, weird spirit of China’s commercial center.
网
GET PUBLISHED Find out how to submit your works to online publishers at www.theworldofchinese.com
Their first collection, “Party Like It’s 1984,” is a complex book that captures the limbo-like state in which many expats (or postpats as the folks at H.A.L. like to refer to themselves) find themselves. Wahlstrom and his partner Nathan Fischbacher set up H.A.L. based on the sentiment that, as Wahlstrom puts it, “it was and is high time to start defining ourselves as part of the emerging new China… to prove that we could persuade even the money-money-money society of this city that we should start viewing ourselves as more than temporary strangers in a strange land.” He adds, “I like the more dramatic term. I believe coined about us by Ned Kelly (of That’s Shanghai magazine): ‘guerilla publishing’ . That sums it up pretty neatly.” In recent years, the Internet has drastically changed the face of publishing. Among the 170 novels in the running for this year’s prestigious Mao Dun Literature Prize were eight works published online. Though they were later taken out of the running, this was the first time that online works had been considered for the prize, which is awarded to up to five novels every four years. On the rise are independent publishers like H.A.L. Being web-based allows these small ventures to keep costs down and stay afloat long after they would otherwise have gone under. The Internet age also allows smaller publishers to reach a much wider market with viral marketing campaigns becoming overnight phenomena. When I ask Wahlstrom about the indie publishing scene in China, his reply is laconic but incisive: “Tiny scene, big ambitions.” He elaborates, “We in H.A.L. see ourselves at the beginning of a scene. As with everything in China someone has got to go first. There are ups and downs to this, but it’s definitely very exciting.” Indie publishing also has its downsides. Large traditional publishers have established distribution networks that allow them to push books to a much wider audience. In lieu of this, indie publishers are often very community-oriented and have stronger links with local restaurants, bars and cafes as well as authors. It’s through events at these venues that publishers like H.A.L. translate their web presence into a real-world community.
SMALL SCENE, BIG NUMBERS * Independent publishing may represent a small scene, but the overall shift toward online reading represents a literary revolution.
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E-BOOK TITLES PUBLISHED BY 2009
970,000
hOur Room, by Dyce artist Alison Mealy, is based on a quote from Ginger wRong Chen’s “1984” story: “Walk down the…hallway hand in hand…sounds of televisions blaring…Healing words… human groans and moaning… from another world… crawling from the cracks in the…plywood doors…down the hallway as the noises grew louder and softer, resonating…a syncopated symphony.”
NOT ONLY BOOKS For independent publishers like H.A.L., forming a local community is crucial. This is why H.A.L. has launched a series of live literary events in Shanghai, including their SLAMHAI poetry nights, Erotic Fiction Competition, spoken word performances and “Bard Fights,” aka “bare-knuckle poetry slams.”
EBOOK READERS IN CHINA
101mln
EBOOK READERS
MONEY EARNED FROM E-BOOKS
BETWEEN 18 AND 31
RMB
76.% 287mln *stats
Issue 6/2011
on
C hin a’s
e
-book
market
2009,
courtesy of openbook.com.cn
.
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> EDITOR'S PICKs Though they’re now bona fide, hard-copy hits, these five novels all originally appeared on self-publishing websites like hongxiu.com. Since then, they’ve rocketed to popularity, and have all been adapted for TV and film.
《裸婚》
《杜拉拉升职记》
《和空姐同居的日子》 《此间的少年》
《鬼吹灯》
Financier-turnedauthor Tang Xintian tells the story of a penniless couple who buck convention to marry for love (a so-called “naked marriage”), but are split up by the hard realities of life.
Based on the experiences of author Li Ke, this novel traces the professional advancement of its heroine on her rise to HR manager, and is now widely regarded as a must-read for ambitious types.
Written by Xu Yue, this cuddly love story proved so compelling that the novel received a hundred million hits within its first two months online.
Among the most popular examples of the recently burgeoned “grave robber” genre, this series by author Zhang Muye follows the misadventures of two men as they raid tombs in search of valuables.
NAKED MARRIAGES
THE STORY OF LALA’S PROMOTION
WHATEVER EDITING HAPPENS, HAPPENS ORGANICALLY
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DAYS OF LIVING WITH THE YOUTH AROUND A FLIGHT ATTENDANT HERE Among the earliest online books to capture public attention, this novel by Yang Zhi follows a group of Song Dynasty college students as they go about their lives at the fictional “Bianjing University.”
GHOST BLOWS OUT THE LIGHT
“Indie publishing, almost per definition, draws on and tries to build communities,” says Wahlstrom. “Large publishers sell books. A small organization like H.A.L. can sit down over a few drinks in the Concession and think what we could do to draw attention to literature, specifically to the people in Shanghai, and then simply organize and execute through our larger H.A.L. collective.” H.A.L., for example, have worked closely with Garden Books, the independent bookstore where they held a reading from “Party Like It’s 1984,” as well as with local art group Dyce Productions, which executed art pieces based on phrases from “Party Like It’s 1984.” Dyce’s mission statement is “presenting fine art as
entertainment,” and to this end artists from the group used phrases from “Party Like It’s 1984” as the inspiration for art pieces. These kinds of projects are key to attracting communities. “Foreigners and Shanghainese alike expect to be entertained on a Saturday night,” Wahlstrom says, “and I think we have managed to convince people that poetry and partying work well together.” The group organizes regular events, such as the “SLAMHAI” poetry slams and the “Groupthink” writers’ workshops, in which writers gather to critique one another’s work. On the other end of the scale is Cloudary, the behemoth Chinese publisher that works in both traditional and digital formats. Cloudary (a shortening of “Cloud Library”) inhabits the unique position of being a giant publisher that relies on and supports grassroots writers. It operates six user-generated websites where people can upload their work with the chance of it getting published. A well-known example is “Naked Marriages—The New Era of Marriage for the Post-80s Generation,” which author Tang Xintian originally uploaded to Cloudary’s hongxiu.com only for it to be published and made into a popular TV show. “The novel received enthusiastic responses, which met our conditions,” Yu Chen, the publishing director of Cloudary-owned HuawenTianxia, told iChinaStock. “Generally, we will serialize a novel online at first, and when half of it has been released, the website will stop its serialization, and prepare for publication.”
This innovative approach shows that big as well as small publishers can create a community around their work, although with larger publishers it’s much rarer. Many authors are now choosing to bypass publishing houses completely and self-publish their work. Though some people claim that this removes crucial filters for quality, advocates of self-publishing argue that it allows people greater freedom of expression. Books that don’t go through a traditional publishing house are not edited and therefore remain truer to the writer’s vision. With a model that combines self-publishing with institutional support, Cloudary takes an approach that exists in a middle ground between complete artistic freedom and industry control. One of the advantages of companies like H.A.L., then, is that it gives writers complete control over their artistic vision. As with most indie publishers, H.A.L. meddles less with writers’ work, while its Groupthink workshops mean that whatever editing happens, happens organically. Whether it’s Tang Xintian publishing online or H.A.L. using their website to create a literary community, it’s clear that the Internet is helping to drive the current revolution in publishing. Publishing is evolving; it’s opening up and becoming accessible, but that doesn’t mean it will all happen on its own. “You have to drive a scene,” Wahlstrom says. “Don’t sit around and wait for it to come to you.”
CHINESE YOU NEED
to publish
ch$b2n
出版
I’m self-publishing a book online. W6 z3i w2ngsh3ng z#x!ng ch$b2n y# b0n sh$.
我在网上自行出版一本书。 self-publishing
z#x!ng ch$b2n
自行出版 party
j&hu#
聚会 poetry
sh~g8
诗歌
Issue 6/2011
Who knew partying and poetry could work together? Sh9i n9ng xi2ngd3o j&hu# h9 sh~g8 k0y@ xi`ng d9 y# zh`ng?
谁能想到聚会和诗歌可以相得 益彰？
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SOCIAL CHINESE
社交 汉语
H o w t o t al k l i k e a charac t e r f ro m a k u n g f u novel 像 武 侠 小 说 中 的 主 角 那 样 说 话 ！
I
t seems like everyone in China has read—or seen the televised adaptation of—at least one martial arts novel. The undisputed king of the wuxia (武侠 ), sometimes translated as “heroic chivalry,” but it really just means kung fu literary genre is Jin Yong, aka Louis Cha, whose tales of noble heroes, beautiful heroines and not a little derring-do read like a modern Chinese take on the Arthurian legends. Only with more flying headbutts. Characters in these books, and to some extent the films and TV shows that they inspired, all speak in their own distinctive patois. Parts of this lingo can, and do, crop up on occasion in modern-day situations as diverse as formal dinners, company meetings or even chatting on QQ , so it’s useful to have some knowledge of it if you want to really impress your friends and colleagues.
Issue 6/2011
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Though wuxia novels were popularized in the twentieth century, they’re mostly all set in ancient China during a vaguely Medieval period. As a result, this kung fu language can often come across as stilted and old-fashioned (think of “thee” and “thou” in English). As such, opinion is divided among Chinese people about how appropriate this language is in everyday use. “Just like someone walking around shouting ‘who art thou’ would raise eyebrows in the West, in China you definitely need to use this language in an ironic, jokey way—and certainly not with a straight face,” says Queenie Li. But George Yang admits to using kung fu language frequently with male colleagues at work. “It’s good office banter,” he says. Perhaps it’s just a man thing, then? A major tenet of the martial arts code is that of being chivalrous; helping the needy with one’s kung fu skills. Hence the phrase, “upon seeing injustice on the road, draw one’s sword and come to the rescue” (路见
不平，拔刀相助 L& ji3n b&p!ng, b1d`o xi`ngzh&). In keeping with this, most of
the language is formal and should be spoken with the authority that comes with the knowledge that you are a human death machine. (It helps if you have a wispy Chinese beard to twirl whilst speaking, as well.)
TWO TIGERS CANNOT SHARE ONE MOUNTAIN. Y# sh`n b& r5ng -r h^.
一山不容二虎。
- FROM THE MOVIE " THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM" (功夫之王)
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REMEMBER—A MARTIAL ARTS STUDENT SHOULD NEVER SWAGGER. J#zh&, xu9 w^ zh~ r9n zu# j# zh`oy1o. 记住，学武之人最忌招摇。
- FROM THE MOVIE "THE LEGEND OF THE CONDOR HEROES" (射雕英雄传)
INTRODUCTIONS!
Just like in real life, first impressions are important in the martial arts world. Just don’t do this at an allimportant business meeting: it’ll be laughed off, but your counterparts may think you’re not treating the situation with the gravity that it deserves. Which school (of martial arts) do you belong to? [Where are you from, and what do you do?] G9xi3 sh# n2 m9n n2 p3i de?
A: I am A, may I be so bold as to learn your great name? Z3ixi3 A, g2n w-n g9xi3 g`o x#ng d3 m!ng? A: 在下A，敢问阁下高姓大名? B: I am known as B. Z3ixi3 B. B: 在下B。 A: Aha! Brother B, good to make your acquaintance! O! Yu1nl1i B xi4ng, ji^y2ng ji^y2ng! A: 哦! 原来B兄, 久仰久仰!
VERY GOOD—YOU NEVER TRULY HAD A CHANCE TO WIN. B%cu7, n@ d!qu- y6ngyu2n m9iy6u sh-ng de j~hu# le.
不错，你的确永远没有胜的 机会了。 - FROM THE MOVIE "CHU LIU XIANG" (楚留香)
阁下是哪门哪派的? TALKING ABOUT KUNG FU… May I humbly ask your great name? [Could you tell me your name?] Q@ng w-n g9xi3 z$n x#ng d3 m!ng?
请问阁下尊姓大名？ When introducing oneself, it is usual to use the first person singular, zaixia ( 在下 ), literally “below,” which is a way of showing one’s humility. Others should be referred to as gexia ( 阁下 ), literally “I address you from below your mansion,” something akin to “milord/ milady.” When first encountering one another, a pair of kung fu practitioners might greet each other with the following:
In kung fu novels, characters are constantly judging each other based on their respective martial arts prowess, and they're certainly not afraid to brag. Nowadays, kung fu (功夫 g4ngfu) doesn’t necessarily refer to one’s martial arts ability; it can simply mean performing any particular skill, from using spreadsheet software, driving a motorcycle, barganing to cooking pasta, and so these phrases can be used to talk about any kind of performance. If someone drops a pen and catches it before it hits the floor, why not praise their kung fu? I’d never have thought that your kung fu would be so amazing. [Impressive!]
M9ixi2ngd3o n@ de g4ngfu r%c@ li2od9.
没想到你的功夫如此了得。 Your kung fu isn't bad; you probably count as one of the best martial artists around. [You’re very good at what you do.] N@ de g4ngfu b%ch3, y~ngg`i y0 su3nsh# d`ngj~n w^l!n zh4ng de g`osh6u le.
你的功夫不差，应该也算是当今 武林中的高手了。 Your kung fu hasn't improved over the past few years; in fact it's gotten worse. [You’ve gone rusty.] K3nl1i zh-xi8 ni1n n@ de g4ngfu b%j#n f2n tu# le.
看来这些年你的功夫不进反退 了。 You are a great master with astounding martial prowess of which I am very much in awe, and I may require your skills in the future. [I sure could use your abilities.] D3sh~ w^y# g`oqi1ng, z3ixi3 p-if% de j@n, r#h7u h1i y6u ji-zh7ng zh~ ch&.
大师武艺高强，在下佩服得紧， 日后还有借重之处。 All this flattery can be rebuffed with a simple: I dare not accept such praise. [You flatter me.]
不敢。 (B&g2n.)
DON’T THINK THAT BECAUSE YOU ARE HANDSOME I WON’T HIT YOU.
TODAY IS NOT THE DAY YOU DIE, IT’S THE DAY I LIVE. J~nr# b& sh# n@ s@, ji& sh# w6 hu5.
今日不是你死，就是我活。
- FROM THE MOVIE "THE SENTIMENTAL SWORDSMAN" (多情剑客无情剑)
- FROM THE MOVIE "KUNG FU" (功夫)
Issue 6/2011
我自负英雄无敌，岂知天外有天， 人上有人。 I humbly admire your amazing skills. I will compete with you again after a decade has passed! [You’re too good for me. We’ll play again when I’ve had more practice.] Zhu3ngsh# w^g4ng j~ng r9n, z3ixi3 j! sh# p-if%, sh! ni1n zh~ h7u, z3i l1i l@ngji3o!
壮士武功惊人，在下极是佩服，十 年之后，再来领教! SAYING YOUR GOODBYES IN COMPETITION…
Most kung fu-speak can be most appropriately put to use when two or more people are competing against one another, be it in a high-stakes game of ping pong or just tiddlywinks on an empty office desk. Fighting with our fists, we are evenly matched; let’s see who’s better with the naked blade. [Let’s try a different game.] Z1nmen qu1nji2o n1nf8n g`oxi3, b~ngr-n sh3ng z3i ju9 sh8ngs@.
咱们拳脚难分高下，兵刃上再决 生死。 Your kung fu is exceptional, and I bow to your superiority. [I admit it, you’re better than me.] G9xi3 de g4ngfu f8i t5ng y# b`n, z3ixi3 g`n b3i xi3 f8ng.
Tired of the usual “zaijian” and “bye bye”? Why not bid adieu in consummate kung fu style: As the mountains do not move and the rivers keep on flowing, we will meet again! [See ya!] Q~ngsh`n b&g2i, l_shu@ ch1ngli%, z1nmen h7u hu# y6u q~!
青山不改，绿水长流，咱们后会 有期！ While this kind of language doesn’t conform to the everyday usage that you find in textbooks, or even out and about in the streets, throwing a few kung fu-isms into your speech—if used properly— can really show a familiarity with local culture that many learners of Chinese can only dream about. - DUNCAN POUPARD
阁下的功夫非同一般，在下甘拜 下风。 EATING HUMBLE PIE…
Despite the braggadocio inherent in most kung fu-speak, one must always show humility in defeat. Being a sore loser is a big no-no.
IF I, QIAOFENG, WANT TO LEAVE, WHO AMONG YOU CAN STOP ME?! W6 Qi1o F8ng y3o z6u, n@men sh9i r9n n9ng l1n!
我乔峰要走，你们谁人能拦！
Bi9 y@w9i n@ zh2ng de shu3i w6 ji& b& d2 n@.
别以为你长得帅我就不打你。
r9n sh3ng y6u r9n.
I believed myself to have no equal; who’d have thought that there would be someone even more heroic than I? [I thought I was good, but you’re even better.] W6 z#f& y~ngxi5ng w%d!, q@ zh~ ti`n w3i y6u ti`n,
- FROM THE MOVIE "DEMIGODS" (天龙八部)
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