The list author says: "While there is no end to fictional novels about the Chinese (Amy Tan being the undisputed queen authoress), nor to the volumes of scholarly works on China’s history (Jung Chang presently leading the pack), the China HISTORICAL FICTION genre remains one of literature’s most diminutive.
Whether this is due to China’s notorious cultural and geographical inaccessibility or simply a lack of wherewithal by western authors to tackle such an immense subject, the fact remains that for all its wealth of material, China is one of the least written-about countries in historical fiction.
(Of author James Michener’s vast catalog of historical fiction, not one of his 40+ titles takes place in China; apparently the 9.5 million sq. km., 5,000 year-old China was a bit much for the late Michener to take on.)
Weaving factual accounts into a revisionist narrative, we read historical fiction to learn – and stay awake while doing it! This list, compiled by Tom Carter, author of CHINA: Portrait of a People, is dedicated to the elite few authors whom have had the wherewithal to both meticulously research such a juggernaut culture as China AND successfully incorporate engrossing tales of adventure, romance and intrigue into their pages.
All books herein are based on either true events and/or true personalities throughout Chinese history."
"Masterful historical fiction author Gary Jennings spent sheaves of years traveling in the countries he wrote about. The Journeyer is perhaps the most complete work on Marco Polo's Silk Road adventures next to Polo's own book. Spans Polo’s entire lifetime, from Venice to Central Asia to China and back, and laced with graphic sex and violence aplenty."
"Second book in the legendary James Clavell’s “Asian Saga,” Tai-Pan takes place in late 19th century Hong Kong during the Opium Wars between Britain and China, and follows the rivalry between two foreign traders vying for market share between China and the west. Like all of Clavell’s massive novels, the story is painstakingly researched and heavily layered with political and emotional subplots."
"The Good Earth is Pearl Buck’s legacy, but her fictional biography of Empress Dowager Cixi is just as an excellent read. Known as the “last empress” of dynastic China, the Manchurian-blooded Tzu Hsi had the unfortunate honor of presiding over demise of the Chinese courts. Loved or hated throughout literature, Buck’s Imperial Woman presents the empress fairly yet captivatingly."
"Anchee Min locks up her title as the bravest female voice in contemporary Chinese literature with this daring fictional spin on actress/Communist operative Li Shumeng aka Lan Ping aka Jiang Qing – the last wife of Chairman Mao Zedong. Portraying a human side to a woman responsible for persecuting millions of Chinese people is no easy task, yet Min writes with empathetic, graceful prose."
"Lloyd Lofthouse rivals his wife/famed authoress Anchee Min with his impressive debut My Splendid Concubine, tracing the true-life exploits of Sir Robert Hart, the celebrated expatriate credited for bringing old China into the 20th century. A thought-provoking examination of attitudes, prejudices and cultures; rife with the entertainingly explicit dalliances of a single white man adrift in China."
"Essentially a true story straight from the protagonist's mouth, King Hui falls under Historical Fiction simply because even the author is skeptical of his subject’s flamboyant claims of playboyism, fortunes made and lost and even once controlling Hong Kong’s opium trade. True or not, Jonathan Chamberlain writes an excellent tale of Hong Kong’s glory days in the early 20th century."
"Jennifer Cody Epstein's The Painter from Shanghai is a moving account of real-life female Chinese painter Pan Yuliang (1899-1977). Raised as a prostitute before becoming a concubine and moving to Europe, Yuliang returned to Cultural Revolution-era China, only to be ostracized by her conservative contemporaries for her nude paintings."
"Beijing-born Yan Ni Ni (Shan Sa) penned this luminous novel about a young Chinese girl discovering her womanhood at the wake of the Second Sino-Japanese War of Resistance (1937-1945), and of her wordless friendship with a Japanese military officer. Beautiful for its simplicity and poetic prose while portraying war-ravaged North China."
"Based on his own experiences imprisoned on a Chinese “reeducation” camp (Mao’s Cultural Revolution jailed educated/intelligent Chinese citizens), Dai Sijie’s Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress focuses on two boys sent to a camp and the struggles they endure. Their discovery of banned western literature and an affair with a local girl form the semi-fictional plot line of this touching book."
"Perhaps the only historical fiction novel ever written that INCLUDES the author, On Gold Mountain: The One-Hundred-Year Odyssey of My Chinese-American Family retraces Lisa See’s ancestor’s migratory path from China to the U.S. Less fiction than family-tree, See contrives just enough dialogue and plot to perfectly balance the book on the fine line between fiction and non-fiction."
"Eurasian author Ruthanne Lum McCunn’s tale of feminism Chinese-style offers a glimpse into the seething hearts of early-19th century Chinese women. Set along the PRD, McCunn’s rendering of three friends who defy convention by shunning their obligations as females, and the abuse they receive in turn, captures traditional Chinese village life as it was – and just may very well continue to be."
"Iris Chang’s oft-cited Rape of Nanking, while informative, was unable to channel any emotion into her bloody documentary. When the Purple Mountain Burns succeeds in actually giving a face to victims involved in the travesty. Qi may never receive the publicity that Chang has, however his book holds a special place as one of the few historical fiction novel written about the 1937 massacre."
"Translated from the original three-volume series, Taiwanese author Li Qiao’s epic story of three generations of Chinese Hakka migrants relocating to late-18th century Taiwan. Provides scrupulous background on Taiwan’s history leading up to its 1940’s occupation by the Japanese while presenting a captivating account of rural pioneer life."
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