Years active | 1978 Onwards |
---|---|
Location | Mainland China |
Major figures | Liu Xinwu Zhang Chengzhi |
Influences |
|
Scar literature | |
---|---|
Traditional Chinese | 傷痕文學 |
Simplified Chinese | 伤痕文学 |
Hanyu Pinyin | Shānghén wénxué |
Scar literature or literature of the wounded (Chinese :伤痕文学; pinyin :shānghén wénxué) is a genre of Chinese literature which emerged in the late 1970s during the Boluan Fanzheng, soon after the death of Mao Zedong,portraying the sufferings of cadres and intellectuals during the experiences of the Cultural Revolution and the rule of the Gang of Four. [1]
During the Boluan Fanzheng period,the growth of scar literature corresponded with the Beijing Spring and the decade of the New Enlightenment,a period of greater openness in Chinese society. [2] [3] Scar literature has even been described as a "second Hundred Flowers Movement". [4]
Though scar literature focuses on trauma and oppression,and has been described as largely negative,love and faith remained its major themes;its practitioners were typically not opposed to Communism,but on the converse retained faith in the ability of the Party to rectify past tragedies,and "embraced love as a key to solving social problems". [5] Regardless,though their writing was hailed as marking a revival of the tradition of socialist realism in the arts,it in fact represented a break from that tradition,as it was no longer subject to party control,and was not under an obligation to serve the purpose of political education for the masses. [6]
Unlike the mass revolutionary art of the Cultural Revolution,scar literature adopted a more individualist and market-driven literary style. [7]
The first exemplar of the genre is generally agreed to be Chen Ruoxi's 1974 short story "The Execution of Mayor Yin" (尹縣長). The story was first published in November 1974 on Mingpao Monthly (vol 107,pp.97-105). [8]
Another examplar is Lu Xinhua's 1978 story "Scar",which attacked official hypocrisy and corruption. [9] Liu Xinwu's 1977 short story "The Class Monitor" (班主任) has also been described as the pioneer of scar literature,though this assessment is disputed. [10]
Most of the representative authors were in their thirties and forties at the time;they worked as salaried writers and editors,and published their works in state-sponsored literary journals. [11] The moral outrage they expressed in their works resonated with the public,contributing to its popularity. [12]
Not all works by authors who lived through the Cultural Revolution can be classified as scar literature. Zhang Chengzhi in particular is notable for his idealism regarding his experiences during the Cultural Revolution;his works such as Black Steed and Rivers of the North have been described as rebuttals to the "negativism of scar literature". [13]
Scar literature did not entirely receive a free pass from the Party establishment;due to its criticisms of the Communist Party and of Mao himself,as well as its exposure of social problems,it came under attack by conservatives as early as 1979. Events such as the trial of Wei Jingsheng signalled writers that there were limits to the open discussion of the past errors of the Party,and after the end of the trial of the Gang of Four,the political climate chilled significantly. [14] Eventually,the government began to crack down on scar literature as part of a wider campaign against "bourgeois liberalism". [15] Deng Xiaoping himself provided major support for the campaign,even though his return to Chinese politics after his earlier disgrace and his political victory over rival Hua Guofeng relied heavily on the repudiation of Maoism inherent in scar literature,and its influence on public opinion. [4] [15] The campaign against scar literature was itself unusual in that,unlike earlier campaigns against liberalism,official criticisms were generally limited to attacks on its content,rather than denunciations of individuals. [16]
Mao Zedong,also known as Chairman Mao,was a Chinese politician,revolutionary,and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) and led the country from its establishment in 1949 until his death in 1976. Mao also served as the chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1943 until his death,and as the party's de facto leader from 1935. His theories,which he advocated as a Chinese adaptation of Marxism–Leninism,are known as Maoism.
The Cultural Revolution,formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution,was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his death in 1976. Its stated goal was to preserve Chinese socialism by purging remnants of capitalist and traditional elements from Chinese society. Though it failed to achieve its main objectives,the Cultural Revolution marked the effective return of Mao to the center of power in China after his political sidelining,in the aftermath of the Great Leap Forward and the Great Chinese Famine.
The Four Cardinal Principles were stated by Deng Xiaoping in March 1979 at the CCP Theory Conference,during the early phase of Reform and Opening-up,and are the four issues for which debate was not allowed within the People's Republic of China. The Four Cardinal Principles were one of Deng's Two Basic Points,the other of which was the Chinese economic reform.
Shen Dehong,best known by the pen name of Mao Dun,was a Chinese novelist,essayist,journalist,playwright,literary and cultural critic. He was highly celebrated for his realist novels,including Midnight,which depicts life in cosmopolitan Shanghai. Mao was one of the founders of the Chinese Communist Party and participated in a number of left-wing cultural movements during the 1920s and 1930s. He was the editor-in-chief of Fiction Monthly and helped lead the League of Left-Wing Writers. He formed a strong friendship with fellow left-wing Chinese author Lu Xun. From 1949 to 1965,Mao served as the first Minister of Culture in the People's Republic of China.
The history of Chinese literature extends thousands of years,and begins with the earliest recorded inscriptions,court archives,building to the major works of philosophy and history written during the Axial Age. The Han and Tang dynasties were considered golden ages of poetry,while the Song (960–1279) and Yuan (1271–1368) were notable for their lyrics (ci),essays,dramas,and plays. During the Ming and Qing,mature novels were written in written vernacular Chinese,an evolution from the preeminence of Literary Chinese patterned off the language of the Chinese classics. The introduction of widespread woodblock printing during the Tang and the invention of movable type printing by Bi Sheng (990–1051) during the Song rapidly spread written knowledge throughout China. Around the turn of the 20th century,the author Lu Xun (1881–1936) is considered an influential voice of vernacular Chinese literature.
The Beijing Spring refers to a brief period of political liberalization during the "Boluan Fanzheng" period in the People's Republic of China (PRC). It began as the Democracy Wall movement in Beijing,which occurred in 1978 and 1979,right after the end of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. The name is derived from "Prague Spring",an analogous event which occurred in Czechoslovakia in 1968.
Liu Xinwu is a Chinese author,and one of the earliest proponents of the post-Maoist wave of Chinese literature.
The "Five Black Categories" were classifications of political identity and social status in Mao era (1949–1976) of the People's Republic of China,especially during the Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966–1976);these categories include landlords,rich farmers,counter-revolutionaries,bad influencers and rightists. People who were labelled as members of these five groups were discriminated against in society and were considered enemies of the Cultural Revolution,subject to constant persecution and even massacres. Most members of the Five Black Categories were rehabilitated in the Boluan Fanzheng period after the Cultural Revolution.
Cong Weixi,who also used the pen names Bi Zheng (碧征) and Cong Ying (从缨),was a Chinese novelist. Condemned as a "rightist" during the Anti-Rightist Campaign in 1957,he spent 20 years in the laogai camps. Following his release in 1978,he published China's first novel on laogai and founded the "High Wall Literature" genre that depicts the traumas suffered by political prisoners in the labor camps. Highly influential in the post-Cultural Revolution literary scene,his works have been translated into many languages.
Chen Ruoxi is a Taiwanese author. A graduate of National Taiwan University,she among others helped found the literary journal Xiandai wenxue.
The Stinking Old Ninth is a Chinese dysphemism for intellectuals used at two major points,the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368) and the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976).
The Execution of Mayor Yin is a 1978 collection of short stories by Chen Ruoxi,based on her experiences in Mainland China during the 1960s and 1970s before she came to Taiwan.
Howard Goldblatt is a literary translator of numerous works of contemporary Chinese fiction,including The Taste of Apples by Huang Chunming and The Execution of Mayor Yin by Chen Ruoxi. Goldblatt also translated works of Chinese novelist and 2012 Nobel Prize in Literature winner Mo Yan,including six of Mo Yan's novels and collections of stories. He was a Research Professor of Chinese at the University of Notre Dame from 2002 to 2011.
People's Literature is the oldest continuously published literary magazine in China,and the first literary magazine published in Communist China. Established in 1949,the magazine is published by the People's Literature Publishing House and issued by the Chinese Writers Association. Its head office is located at 166 Chaonei Ave,Beijing. Its current director is Pan Kaixiong (潘凯雄) and its current editor-in-chief is Guan Shiguang (管士光).
Struggle sessions,or denunciation rallies or struggle meetings,were violent public spectacles in Maoist China where people accused of being "class enemies" were publicly humiliated,accused,beaten and tortured,sometimes to death,often by people with whom they were close. These public rallies were most popular in the mass campaigns immediately before and after the establishment of the People's Republic of China,and peaked during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976),when they were used to instill a crusading spirit among crowds to promote Maoist thought reform.
The Daoxian massacre,or Dao County massacre,was a massacre which took place during the Cultural Revolution in Dao County,Hunan as well as ten other nearby counties and cities. From August 13 to October 17,1967,a total of 7,696 people were killed while 1,397 people were forced to commit suicide. An additional 2,146 people were permanently injured and disabled. Most of the victims were labelled as "class enemies",belonging to the Five Black Categories,while at least 14,000 people participated in the massacre. The Daoxian massacre had a direct impact on the Shaoyang County Massacre in 1968.
Liu Shaoqi was a Chinese revolutionary and politician. He was the chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress from 1954 to 1959,first-ranking vice chairman of the Chinese Communist Party from 1956 to 1966,and the chairman of the People's Republic of China,the head of state from 1959 to 1968. He was considered to be a possible successor to Mao Zedong,but was purged during the Cultural Revolution.
The Inner Mongolia incident,or the Inner Mongolia People's Revolutionary Party purge incident,was a massive political purge which occurred during the Cultural Revolution in Inner Mongolia. The purge was supported by the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and was led by Teng Haiqing,a lieutenant general of the People's Liberation Army. It took place from 1967 to 1969 during which over a million people were categorized as members of the already-dissolved Inner Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (PRP),while lynching and direct massacre resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands,most of whom were Mongols.
The Zhao Jianmin spy case,or Zhao Jianmin wrong case,was a major fabricated spy case in Yunnan province during the Chinese Cultural Revolution,with more than 1.387 million people implicated and persecuted,which accounted for 6% of the total population in Yunnan at the time. From 1968–1969,more than 17,000 people died in a massacre while 61,000 people were crippled for life;in Kunming alone,1,473 people were killed and 9,661 people were left disabled as a result.
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