Customer Reviews

The Columbia Anthology of Modern Chinese Literature

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4 star:		(2)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

These comments are for the first edition of the book, which was published in 1995, not the second/revised version, which came out in 2007.

The book was the largest collection of modern Chinese literature that I've seen, and must've taken some years to compile. It contained 152 works by 83 authors. There were 50 short stories (42 authors), 71 poems (30 authors), and 30 essays plus 1 excerpt from an autobiography (11 authors). The short fiction comprised about 70% of the book, poetry 10% and essays/excerpt 20%.

There were 88 works from the 20th century from mainland China (47 writers), 58 from Taiwan (31 writers, including émigrés), and 6 works from Hong Kong from the 1970s and after (5 writers). Seventeen of the authors were women.

The works were divided into short fiction, poetry and essays, with each of these divided further into pieces from 1918-49 (early modern), 1949-76 (post-"Liberation") and since 1976 (post-Mao). The middle period, 1949-76, was represented almost entirely by Taiwanese, including émigrés from the mainland. This was because most of the literature from the mainland during that time, intended mainly to promote the new society under the Communist Party, was judged unable to stand inclusion on artistic merit. The one exception was a poem by Mu Dan published at the period's end, in 1976.

The short fiction was by far the most enjoyable section, with stories by the early moderns to 1949 (including Lu Xun, Mao Dun, Lao She, Shen Congwen, Ba Jin, Zhang Tianyi, Ding Ling, Wu Zuxiang, Xiao Hong, Zhang Ailing), writers from Taiwan from the 1960s to 1990 (Zhu Xining, Bai Xianyong, Li Yongping, Yuan Qiongqiong, Li Ang, Xiao Sa, Zhu Tianwen), and mainland writers after 1976 to 1991 (Qiao Dianyun, Wang Meng, Li Rui, Can Xue, Chen Cun, Mo Yan, Yu Hua and Su Tong). No writer besides Lu Xun was presented in any depth, but the coverage was broad. There were many strong works: humorous, ironic, naturalistic and humanistic, the best of which were written with compassion, powerful imagery and historical insight.

Before 1949, there were a narrator's description of the decline of a store that couldn't shift with the times (Lao She), a ferocious depiction of oppression by landlords (Wu Zuxiang), a compassionate story about the effects of prejudice (Xiao Hong) and a wry description of a brief encounter in Shanghai (Eileen Chang). After 1976, there was a fascinating story showing how the treatment of an ancient artifact reflected the changing political currents of the times (Qiao Dianyun) and a piece showing unusually keen psychological insight into one man's behavior (Chen Cun). On Taiwan, there were stories with great descriptive power (Li Yongping), sometimes with allusive symbolism (Zhu Xining), reminiscences about the past (Bai Xianyong), and careful depictions of a relationship (Yuan Qiongqiong, Xiao Sa) and contemporary decadence (Zhu Tianwen).

Missed in this prose section were a story from Liu Xianwu, one of the earliest post-Mao writers, Kong Jiesheng, another early post-Mao writer, and pieces from the 1980s by mainland authors Bei Dao, Feng Jicai and Wang Shuo.

In the poetry section, there were poets before 1949 (including Xu Zhimo, Wen Yiduo, Li Jinfa, Feng Zhi), many poets from Taiwan between the 1950s and 80s (Ji Xian, Yu Guangzhong, Ya Xian, Xiong Hong) poets from the mainland from the 1970s to 1990 (Mu Dan, Bei Dao, Shu Ting, Yang Lian, Wang Xiaolong, Gu Cheng) and an anonymous poem from Hong Kong following the government crackdown on the mainland in 1989.

For this reader, the poems were much less interesting, marked by much self-consciousness and obscurity. One enjoyed was "Self" (1976), by Mu Dan, in which the speaker looked back at the selves of his life and wondered which one was real. Moving poems missed in this collection included "Spring Waters" (1923) by Bing Xin on love and optimism, the despairing "All" (ca. 1980) by Bei Dao, and a reply to it, "Also All," (ca. 1980) by Shu Ting. Or anything by Zha Haisheng (Haizi), another important poet for the post-Mao generations.

The essay section highlighted writers before 1949 (Lin Yutang, Zhou Zouren, Zhu Ziqing, Feng Zikai, Liang Yuchun), those in Taiwan after 1949 (Lin Yutang, Yu Guangzhong, Yang Mu), a few writers on the mainland from the late 1970s (Ba Jin, Wen Jieruo) and one from Hong Kong in the 1980s (Dong Qiao). The majority of their works seemed bookish and/or ephemeral, unconcerned directly with the major events of their time, with too many on subjects like installing a telephone, going shopping, quitting smoking, getting sick or visiting the barber, activities about which it was often felt necessary to cite passages from Chinese classics or historic anecdotes.

Interesting exceptions were an essay from the 1920s by Lu Xun for his first collection of short stories that described the aims behind his writing and the excerpt of a memoir by Wen Jieruo and an essay by Ba Jin about the suffering of those close to them during the Cultural Revolution. For most of the rest, I would've gladly traded the space they took up for more excerpts from memoirs, or even extracts from important modern novels.

All of the younger prose writers from the mainland who were featured in this anthology were still based in China after 1989. Among the poets, however, Bei Dao and Yang Lian had subsequently moved abroad, and Gu Cheng had emigrated in 1979.

Because this first edition was published in 1995, the coverage of the 1990s naturally was scant: only five works. I'm looking forward to reading what's been added to the second edition, published in 2007, to reflect recent developments among Chinese writers, both in China and overseas.

The thing that upsets me about this book is that it ignores a considerable body of Chinese literature published in Mainland China between 1949 and 1976. There were some novels of great insight and brilliance published during this time period in Mainland China. Before I first went to China, I read an anthology of 20th century Chinese literature that was spectacular and covered Chinese literature in this period and dealt with the early days of the revolution, Chinese intervention in Korea, the Hundred Flowers movement, the Anti-Rightist campaign, the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, and a little bit of what followed in the years between the fall of the Gang of Four and the rise of Deng Xiaoping. I can't remember the professor who compiled these works and provided context. I want to say it's Lee Kai Hui, but I'm not sure as that doesn't return anything on Amazon or other book sites. I borrowed it from the University of Arizona Library in Tucson for those looking for a good anthology of literature that covers this time period. Anyway, I don't think this particular book is bad, but how can you have an anthology of Chinese literature and omit the whole communist period. It seems awfully propagandistic to me, especially for a work backed by Columbia University, so this is my reason for the 1 star review.

These comments are for the first edition of the book, which was published in 1995, not the second/revised version, which came out in 2007.

The book was the largest collection of modern Chinese literature that I've seen, and must've taken some years to compile. It contained 152 works by 83 authors. There were 50 short stories (42 authors), 71 poems (30 authors), and 30 essays plus 1 excerpt from an autobiography (11 authors). The short fiction comprised about 70% of the book, poetry 10% and essays/excerpt 20%.

There were 88 works from the 20th century from mainland China (47 writers), 58 from Taiwan (31 writers, including émigrés), and 6 works from Hong Kong from the 1970s and after (5 writers). Seventeen of the authors were women.

The works were divided into short fiction, poetry and essays, with each of these divided further into pieces from 1918-49 (early modern), 1949-76 (post-"Liberation") and since 1976 (post-Mao). The middle period, 1949-76, was represented almost entirely by Taiwanese, including émigrés from the mainland. This was because most of the literature from the mainland during that time, intended mainly to promote the new society under the Communist Party, was judged unable to stand inclusion on artistic merit. The one exception was a poem by Mu Dan published at the period's end, in 1976.

The short fiction was by far the most enjoyable section, with stories by the early moderns to 1949 (including Lu Xun, Mao Dun, Lao She, Shen Congwen, Ba Jin, Zhang Tianyi, Ding Ling, Wu Zuxiang, Xiao Hong, Zhang Ailing), writers from Taiwan from the 1960s to 1990 (Zhu Xining, Bai Xianyong, Li Yongping, Yuan Qiongqiong, Li Ang, Xiao Sa, Zhu Tianwen), and mainland writers after 1976 to 1991 (Qiao Dianyun, Wang Meng, Li Rui, Can Xue, Chen Cun, Mo Yan, Yu Hua and Su Tong). No writer besides Lu Xun was presented in any depth, but the coverage was broad. There were many strong works: humorous, ironic, naturalistic and humanistic, the best of which were written with compassion, powerful imagery and historical insight.

Before 1949, there were a narrator's description of the decline of a store that couldn't shift with the times (Lao She), a ferocious depiction of oppression by landlords (Wu Zuxiang), a compassionate story about the effects of prejudice (Xiao Hong) and a wry description of a brief encounter in Shanghai (Eileen Chang). After 1976, there was a fascinating story showing how the treatment of an ancient artifact reflected the changing political currents of the times (Qiao Dianyun) and a piece showing unusually keen psychological insight into one man's behavior (Chen Cun). On Taiwan, there were stories with great descriptive power (Li Yongping), sometimes with allusive symbolism (Zhu Xining), reminiscences about the past (Bai Xianyong), and careful depictions of a relationship (Yuan Qiongqiong, Xiao Sa) and contemporary decadence (Zhu Tianwen).

Missed in this prose section were a story from Liu Xianwu, one of the earliest post-Mao writers, Kong Jiesheng, another early post-Mao writer, and pieces from the 1980s by mainland authors Bei Dao, Feng Jicai and Wang Shuo.

In the poetry section, there were poets before 1949 (including Xu Zhimo, Wen Yiduo, Li Jinfa, Feng Zhi), many poets from Taiwan between the 1950s and 80s (Ji Xian, Yu Guangzhong, Ya Xian, Xiong Hong) poets from the mainland from the 1970s to 1990 (Mu Dan, Bei Dao, Shu Ting, Yang Lian, Wang Xiaolong, Gu Cheng) and an anonymous poem from Hong Kong following the government crackdown on the mainland in 1989.

For this reader, the poems were much less interesting, marked by much self-consciousness and obscurity. One enjoyed was "Self" (1976), by Mu Dan, in which the speaker looked back at the selves of his life and wondered which one was real. Moving poems missed in this collection included "Spring Waters" (1923) by Bing Xin on love and optimism, the despairing "All" (ca. 1980) by Bei Dao, and a reply to it, "Also All," (ca. 1980) by Shu Ting. Or anything by Zha Haisheng (Haizi), another important poet for the post-Mao generations.

The essay section highlighted writers before 1949 (Lin Yutang, Zhou Zouren, Zhu Ziqing, Feng Zikai, Liang Yuchun), those in Taiwan after 1949 (Lin Yutang, Yu Guangzhong, Yang Mu), a few writers on the mainland from the late 1970s (Ba Jin, Wen Jieruo) and one from Hong Kong in the 1980s (Dong Qiao). The majority of their works seemed bookish and/or ephemeral, unconcerned directly with the major events of their time, with too many on subjects like installing a telephone, going shopping, quitting smoking, getting sick or visiting the barber, activities about which it was often felt necessary to cite passages from Chinese classics or historic anecdotes.

Interesting exceptions were an essay from the 1920s by Lu Xun for his first collection of short stories that described the aims behind his writing and the excerpt of a memoir by Wen Jieruo and an essay by Ba Jin about the suffering of those close to them during the Cultural Revolution. For most of the rest, I would've gladly traded the space they took up for more excerpts from memoirs, or even extracts from important modern novels.

All of the younger prose writers from the mainland who were featured in this anthology were still based in China after 1989. Among the poets, however, Bei Dao and Yang Lian had subsequently moved abroad, and Gu Cheng had emigrated in 1979.

Because this first edition was published in 1995, the coverage of the 1990s naturally was scant: only five works. I'm looking forward to reading what's been added to the second edition, published in 2007, to reflect recent developments among Chinese writers, both in China and overseas.