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1st Semester AY 2022-2023
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ENGM 301C – Survey of Afro Asian Literature
MIDTERM
Lecture 1
Chinese Literature
Historical Background of Chinese Literature
Writing in China dates back to the hieroglyphs that were used in the Shang Dynasty of 1700 –
1050 BC. Chinese literature is a vast subject that spans thousands of years. One of the
interesting things about Chinese literature is that much of the serious literature was
composed using a formal written language that is called Classical Chinese.
China possesses one of the world's major literary traditions. Its texts have been preserved
for over 3,000 years. Reverence for the past has influenced the preservation of these
cultural sources, and may have influenced the invention of woodblock printing in the 9th
century and moveable type printing in the 12th century. The practice of collecting and
reproducing libraries has also played a major role in the transmission of literary tradition.
Most important, China can boast an unbroken cultural tradition based on the Chinese script
as a language — a written medium — independent of spoken dialectic difference. As literary
language became increasingly removed from spoken language, it became less vital and
literature took a natural turn toward imitation. Indeed, after the formative classical period
that began with Confucius, the literary history of China becomes one of imitation-with-
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1st Semester AY 2022-2023
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variations of different models. Literature also thus becomes more elitist, for an
understanding or appreciation of a text may require familiarity with the models being
alluded to.
The principal genre of Chinese literature is poetry; early folk songs established the shi (shih)
form that crystallized during the Han dynasty and dominated for the next 1,200 years.
Beginning with the simple complaints and longings expressed in rhymed couplets of folk
songs, this form gradually became more and more complex, or "regulated," until it took
years of study to master its formal rules of composition.
The short story, which began to develop during the Tang dynasty, at first emphasized either
historical events or supernatural happenings which could not be related in a formal
historical work. The notion of fiction as connected to history persisted, yet more imaginative
and rationally inexplicable, culminating in China's greatest novel, The Dream of the Red
Chamber or The Story of the Stone, which is at once autobiographical and realistic, and at
the same time imaginative and mystical.
Drama, one of China's least well-developed genres, had its origins also in popular
entertainment. The high point of elite drama was during the Yuan dynasty, when
intellectuals dispossessed by the Mongol invaders turned to the composition of drama both
to productively employ their taste and erudition and also to covertly criticize the foreign
government. During the following centuries, dramas tended to become longer, and the
opera dominated. Spoken drama was not generally conspicuous until the 20th century.
By the beginning of the 20th century, the movement to modernize and westernize China's
literature became very popular. The formal classical language, which by then survived only
in written texts, was replaced by the vernacular spoken language as a literary medium.
Experiments with free verse and sonnet forms, short autobiographical stories and interior
monologues, spoken drama and radio or film scripts were influenced by western models
rather than by classical Chinese tradition. However, the theme of China's plight dominated
20th-century Chinese literature, and for the past six decades the pendulum has frequently
swung back and forth between western imitation and modernized styles versus Chinese
foundation and conservative techniques. Whereas classical Chinese literature was often
valued for its craft and erudition, post-1919 Chinese literature has been evaluated largely in
terms of its social and political relevance.
Much Chinese literature of the 1920s and 1930s both exposed national social problems and
also expressed writers' doubts about finding viable solutions to these problems.
In 1942 Mao Zedong, in his "Talks at Yenan on Literature and Art," emphasized to his fellow
communist revolutionaries that the goal of literature was neither to reflect the dark side of
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1st Semester AY 2022-2023
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society nor to express the author's own private feelings or artistic inspirations. Instead, he
said, literature and art should inspire the masses by presenting positive examples of
heroism and socialist idealism. It should also be written in the public voice and style of the
workers, peasants, and soldiers, not of the elite intellectuals.
During the Cultural Revolution period (1966-76), Mao's principle that literature and art
should serve the people and promote socialism was most rigidly adhered to. The fiction of
Hao Ran (Hao Jan) constitutes an excellent example of this tendency.
Literature After 1976
With the death of Mao Zedong in 1976 came the official end of the Cultural Revolution
period, and with it increased freedom for writers. During the subsequent decade, Chinese
fiction tended to fall into the following five (necessarily overlapping) categories:
1. Literature of the Wounded
The initial impulse of writers was to begin, tentatively at first, to express the profound
suffering of the previous decades. Chen Roxi's stories in The Execution of Mayor Yin and
other Stories offer an example of very well-crafted fiction which reveals the physical,
psychological and spiritual pain the Chinese people endured under Mao. But finally, Chen
Roxi must be considered a foreigner, though she is Chinese and she lived in China during the
Cultural Revolution era.
Within China, the "literature of the wounded" movement began in the summer of 1977 when
Lu Xinhua, a 23-year-old student at Fudan University, presented a story entitled "The
Wounded" as a big-character poster on the walls of the campus. The story was soon
published, and it inspired hundreds of others. Another one which became equally famous
was Liu Xinwu's "Class Counselor," published in November 1977. In Liu's story, the young girl
fails to achieve a reconciliation with her mother, whom she had been forced to denounce
during the Cultural Revolution. An open-minded class advisor recognizes that there is still
hope for the generation of youth who suffered at the hands of the Gang of Four. For several
years, story after story poured out the guilt, regret, and pain over lost lives and ruined
careers, betrayal of friends and family members, and the need to seek restitution. Within the
"wounded" tradition, though not literature per se, a number of Chinese have written
accounts of this tragic period for Western audiences.
2. Humanistic Literature
A related literary trend which began in the late 1970s and early 1980s was fiction which
treated the problems of recreating the whole person after the constricting movements of
the Cultural Revolution. A large number of women writers predominate in this category.
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Since personal feelings were supposed to be subordinate to political action during the
Cultural Revolution, writers who reacted in the opposite direction after the death of Mao
used the rally cry, "Love Must Not Be Forgotten" — the title of one of Zhang Jie's short
stories advocating marriage based only on love and private desire.
3. Social Criticism
Finally allowed once again to treat in fiction the darker side of Chinese society, many writers
composed works which addressed post-Cultural Revolution social problems: alienated
youth, the loneliness of the elderly and the divorced, the housing shortage, government
corruption, dissatisfaction with the system of job assignments, etc. In a bold social
indictment, Bai Hua in his screenplay, "Unrequited Love," has the protagonist's daughter ask
the fundamental question: "Dad, you love our country. Through bitter frustration you go on
loving her . . . But, Dad, does this country love you?" This script first appeared in 1979, and by
1980 it was banned.
4. Seeking Roots
Some writers, especially those who live outside the main cities, have turned to local themes
and subject matter in their recent fiction. For example, Lu Wenfu describes the customs of
the Suzhou region and Gao Xiaosheng depicts agricultural life in his native Hunan province.
These people are seeking a meaning in life separate from political movements and urban
upward mobility.
5. Reportage
Some writers feel that the most important contribution they can make is to record the facts
of Chinese life in a way that illuminates both the problems and strengths of the Chinese
people. The most famous journalist who exposes corruption in his sophisticated reporting
style is Liu Binyan, whose "People or Monsters?" was acclaimed for its unflinching honesty in
confronting deeply rooted government corruption.
In a different tone, Chinese Profiles, compiled by Zhang Xinxin and Sang Ye, presents
interviews with 100 Chinese citizens who tell about their lives in a way similar to people
interviewed by Studs Terkel. Their stories are poignant and surprising as individual accounts.
They illuminate the rich social fabric of China and indirectly point out major social and
political issues implicit in the individual accounts.
Discussion Questions:
How have poetry, drama, and the short story each been used for purposes other than
entertainment?
How is the literature of the 1920s and 1930s similar to literature after 1976?
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1st Semester AY 2022-2023
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During Mao's rule, what was the function of literature?
How did the "literature of the wounded" movement begin?
-READINGS-
DRINKING ALONE IN THE MOONLIGHT
Also known as Li Bai, Li Po [701-762] is considered one of
China's two best poets (the other is Tu Fu, both of the T'ang
Dynasty). He is noted for his elegant romantic poetry and for
his prolific output: around 1000 poems have survived the
centuries in various archives.
Li Po was born in 701 in what is now known as Suyab,
Kyrgyzstan and died in 762 in Dangtu, China. His family name
was Li and he is sometimes known as Li Po and Li Bai due to
the difficulty of translating certain early Chinese characters.
Version 1 Version 2
Amongst the flowers I Beneath the blossoms with a pot of wine,
am alone with my pot of wine No friends at hand, so I poured alone;
drinking by myself; then lifting I raised my cup to invite the moon,
my cup I asked the moon Turned to my shadow, and we became
to drink with me, its reflection three.
and mine in the wine cup, just Now the moon had never learned about
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1st Semester AY 2022-2023
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the three of us; then I sigh drinking,
for the moon cannot drink, And my shadow had merely followed my
and my shadow goes emptily along form,
with me never saying a word; But I quickly made friends with the moon
with no other friends here, I can and my shadow;
but use these two for company; To find pleasure in life, make the most of
the spring.
in the time of happiness, I
too must be happy with all Whenever I sang, the moon swayed with
around me; I sit and sing me;
and it is as if the moon Whenever I danced, my shadow went wild.
accompanies me; then if I Drinking, we shared our enjoyment
dance, it is my shadow that together;
dances along with me; while Drunk, then each went off on his own.
still not drunk, I am glad But forever agreed on dispassionate revels,
to make the moon and my shadow We promised to meet in the far Milky Way.
into friends, but then when
I have drunk too much, we
all part; yet these are
friends I can always count on
these who have no emotion
whatsoever; I hope that one day
we three will meet again,
deep in the Milky Way.
A LITTLE INCIDENT, 1920
CITY COLLEGE OF CALAMBA
1st Semester AY 2022-2023
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This is a very short story, but you will find that it is full of meaning. It is particularly relevant
to us in Singapore at a time when we are eager to become courteous, considerate and
caring people instead of being selfish and thoughtless. This story was set in China more than
50 years ago, but the message it carries is relevant for all times. An educated young man
from the upper social class learns a valuable lesson in human caring from a simple rickshaw
man.
Six years have slipped by since I came from the country to the capital. During that time I
have seen and heard quite enough of so-called affairs of state; but none of them made much
impression on me. If asked to define their influence, I can only say they aggravated my ill
temper and made me, frankly speaking, more and more cynical.
One incident, however, struck me as significant, and aroused me from my ill temper, so that
even now I cannot forget it.
It happened during the winter of 1917. A bitter north wind was blowing, but, to make a living,
I had to be up and out early. I met scarcely a soul on the road, and had great difficulty in
hiring a rickshaw to take me to the South Gate. Presently the wind dropped a little. By now
the loose dust had all been blown away, leaving the roadway clean, and the rickshaw man
quickened his pace. We were just approaching the South Gate when someone crossing the
road was entangled in our rickshaw and fell slowly to the ground.
It was a woman, with streaks of white in her hair, wearing ragged clothes. She had left the
pavement without warning to cut across in front of us, and although the rickshaw man had
made way, her tattered jacket, unbuttoned and fluttering in the wind, had caught on the
shaft. Luckily the rickshaw man pulled up quickly, otherwise she would certainly have had a
bad fall and been seriously injured.
She lay there on the ground, and the rickshaw man immediately went to her aid. I did not
think the old woman was hurt, and there had been no witnesses to what had happened, so I
resented this over-eagerness of the rickshaw man which might land him in trouble and hold
me up.
“It’s alright,” I said. “Go on.”
However, he paid no attention – perhaps he had not heard – for he set down the shafts, and
gently helped the old woman to get up. Supporting her by one arm, he asked:
“Are you all right?”
“I’m hurt.”
I had seen how slowly she fell, and was sure she could not be hurt. I thought she must be
pretending, which was disgusting. The rickshaw man had asked for trouble, and now he had
it. He would have to find his own way out.
CITY COLLEGE OF CALAMBA
1st Semester AY 2022-2023
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But the rickshaw man did not hesitate for a minute after the old woman said she was
injured. Still holding her arm, he helped her slowly forward. I was surprised. When I looked
ahead, I saw a police station. Because of the high wind, there was no one outside, so the
rickshaw man helped the old woman towards the gate.
Suddenly I had a strange feeling. His dusty, retreating figure seemed larger at that instant.
Indeed, the further he walked the larger he appeared, until I had to look up to him. At the
same time he seemed gradually to be exerting a pressure on me, which threatened to
overpower the small self under my fur-lined gown.
My strength seemed to be draining away as I sat there motionless, my mind a blank, until a
policeman came out. Then I got down from the rickshaw.
The policeman came up to me and said, “Get another rickshaw. He can’t pull you anymore.”
Without thinking, I pulled a handful of coppers from my coat pocket and handed them to
the policeman. “Please give him these,” I said.
The wind had dropped completely, but the road was still quiet. I walked along thinking, but I
was almost afraid to turn my thoughts on myself. Setting aside what had happened earlier,
what had I meant by that handful of coppers? Was it a reward? Who was I to judge the
rickshaw man? I could not answer myself.
Even now, this remains fresh in my memory. It often causes me distress, and makes me think
about myself. The military and political affairs of those years I have forgotten as completely
as the classics I read in my childhood. Yet this incident keeps coming back to me, often more
clearly than in actual life, teaching me shame, urging me to reform, and giving me fresh
courage and hope.
DR. JASCELYNN N. OLIMPIADA, LPT
Senior Lecturer III
