This collection presents opposing pictures of rural China during the Great Leap Forward (1958-1960), the grand delusion that led to the worst famine of the 20th century. Stories and poems written at the time express boundless, if ill-founded, optimism for a communist utopia. Two decades later, fiction about its aftermath reveals its tragic impact on the peasantry. Set against the backdrop of inflated propaganda and immense hardships are tales of heroism, romance and disillusionment.
Directed by political discourse and framed by school and university syllabi, 'Modern Chinese Literature' has always been presented as the fruit of an abrupt break with tradition. The validity of such a representation is now in question. Featuring examples of Chinese fiction written in the last nine decades, this issue reveals the diverse elements that contributed to the genre's development, particularly in terms of narrative structure and voice.
Hong Kong is perhaps best represented by the essay, a form that has flourished and taken on a uniquely local flavour, especially in the last half-century. This special section includes some of the most notable works from the last half-century by a diverse group of writers. Renditions, itself a Hong Kong institution, provides here a glimpse into the ever-changing society of this vibrant city. A selection of classical poetry rounds out the issue.
Hu Feng, Qin Zhaoyang and Gao Ertai were three of the many intellectuals labelled Rightists during the Anti-Rightist movement of 1957. In the biographical writing, memoirs, and interview in this issue, they reflect on their experiences during these years of persecution and hard labour that lasted until the end of the Cultural Revolution.
Liang Qichao claimed that traditional Chinese women were no more than dependents of men who never engaged in productive labour. The writings in this issue, covering topics from education to literary accomplishments, and from service at court to widowhood, prove him soundly wrong.
Featuring short stories by writers from mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, this issue takes a look at life lived on the margin and at the edge.
Different genres of work by the Song-dynasty writer Lu You, excerpts from the 19th-century novel The Strange Case of Nine Murders by Wu Woyao, and classical poetry by the scholar Yeh Chia-ying.
Thirty-four established as well as young emerging poets representing the latest trends in New Poetry from Taiwan are included. The issue also contains a modern short story, Buddhist homilies and two classical letters.
Wang Zhaojun was a Han court lady who volunteered to marry the Xiongnu Khan in 33 BC. Her plight, and her place as one of the four great beauties of China, have fascinated poets, playwrights, painters, and politicians for two thousand years. She has been portrayed by generations of writers as pitiable, courageous, wise, or patriotic, though such depictions reveal more about the authors than about Wang herself.
The most representative of the poems, plays, stories and paintings celebrating this beauty are featured in this special double issue. In these pages the reader will find a broad spectrum of Chinese cultural attitudes and perceptions of women through the centuries.
A miscellaneous issue featuring Chinese lyrics, excerpts from the late 19th-century novel Shanghai Demi-monde by Han Banqing, modern fiction by Ding Ling and Zhang Kangkang, and poetry by the Taiwan poet Chen Kehua.
This issue features proverbs from H. A. Giles' Gems of Chinese Literature in bilingual format, stories from Eighty-one Dreams by Zhang Henshui and Yijian zhi by Hong Mai, Ming ditties by Feng Menglong, as well as contemporary poems by Hsi Muren, Han Dong, and Shu Ting.
A bilingual format showcases the recent poetry of three generations of Hong Kong poets.
Twenty-five poems by 14 poets shape a major introduction to contemporary Singaporean Chinese poets.
From the mid to late 19th century, educated Chinese as well as government officials began exploring aspects of Western civilization, their purpose to preserve China's nationhood. Excerpts from petitions, diaries and travelogues reveal the observations and experiences of government officials, diplomats, dissidents, scholars and students, those who journeyed to the West, as well as those who stayed behind. The issue also includes depictions of Westerners from popular journals and magazines.
'Renditions has pulled off yet another coup in masterminding this speical double issue devoted to reports from the West by Chinese travellers in the 19th century.'¡ÐSouth China Morning Post
'The early impressions and historical events continue to influence Chinese thinking today'¡ÐL.Z. Yuan, Senior Advisor, China Program, Asia Foundation.
Features fiction by Eileen Chang; two essays by Ch'i Chun and Yu Qiuyu; classical poetry by Du Fu; contemporary poetry by Zhai Yongming; three stories by Wan Zhi, and a story by Yuan Qiongqiong.
'Chinese literature can be fun' being the motto of Renditions, this issue is an offering of humorous writings by some of the best known classical writers such as Han Yu and Li Yu, as well as Lu Xun and Guo Moruo from the May Fourth generation, and from Bai folk literature. Also featuring excerpts from Tracks in the Snow by the Manchu Bannerman Linqing.
December 1998 marked the 30th anniversary of Mao Zedong's directive sending twenty million urban high-school graduates (zhiqing) ¡§down¡¨ to the countryside to work as agricultural labourers beside their peasant-farmer hosts. Richard King, zhiqing literature expert, guest-edits this issue of selections spanning the early 1970s to the mid-1990s. These writings bring to vivid life the experiences of the first generation raised under Chinese Socialism.
Features Zhang Kangkang's 'Cruelty', a story of the Cultural Revolution; poems by Bai Juyi; takes of concubines from Li Yu and Guan Hanqing, and a fable, Supplement to Jiang Zong's Biography of a White Ape.
An important collection of Hong Kong literature of the 1990s, including fiction, sanwen, zawen, and a selection of poetry devoted to new poets of the 90s. The issue presents recent works from established figures such as Xi Xi, P.K. Leung and Xin Qi Shi, and newer voices such as Dung Kai Cheung, Wong Bik Wan and Patsy Kwan Lai Shan.
Contemporary fiction by Zheng Wanlong; poetry by Yu Jian, Yang Lian; seven poems on getting drunk by Xin Qiji and memoirs by Bing Xin, Ling Shuhua and Lin Huiyin.
The work of Eileen Chang (Zhang Ailing) are featured in this special issue, including essays, stories, criticism, drawings and photographs.
Essays, memoirs, poetry and fiction, including three zidishu ballads based on the classical novel Jin Ping Mei (The Golden Lotus), as well as a critical article, 'Late Twentieth Century Orientalism and Discourses of Selection'.
An excerpt from Sha Yexin's play Jesus, Confucius and John Lennon; classical fiction by Pu Songling; stories by Yang Kui and Wang Meng; poetry by Bai Juyi, Chen Ziang, Ma Zhiyuan and Gu Cheng; and three essays by Liang Yuchun.
Renditions celebrates its 21st year with a special double issue of classical letters spanning Chinese history from the Qin dynasty (221-206 BC) to the Qing dynasty (1644-1911). Portraits of the letter writers and samples of their calligraphy highlight this issue. Chinese texts included.
Classical literature, including scenes form The Swallow Letter and excerpts from the Marshes of Mount Liang, a new translation of Shuihu zhuan.
A miscellany of contemporary fiction and poetry from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan and an excerpt from Family Dysposition by Taiwan novelist Wang Wenxing.
Reminiscences by well-known literary figures, including Bao Tianxiao, Zhu Ziqing, Ba Jin, Lao She, Yang Jiang and Wang Xiyan.
A 60-page special section featuring the works of China's most notable young poets of the late 1980s, including Bai Hua, Chen Dongdong, Hai Zi, Han Dong, Lu Yimin, Ouyang Jianghe, Xi Chuan, Yu Jian, and Zheng Zao. With Chinese texts.
Younger writers are featured, along with a few offerings from well-known writers of the older generation, as well as critical articles. Copiously illustrated with art from Taiwan.
A wealth of material rarely available in translation, from biographies of recluses to "eight-legged essays" and Taoist prescriptions. A dazzling array of major writers from the classical Chinese literary tradition. Chinese texts included.
Bing Xin is the focus of a special section in this issue, which includes her fiction and prose writing, her own Autobiographical Notes, and her translation of the poems of Li Qingzhao. Other highlights of this issue are Tang dynasty stories, fiction by Mo Yan and Zhang Tianyi, and the sequel to Liu E's TheTravels of Lao Can.
Essays by Lu Xun; Yunnan folk tales, poetry by Gu Cheng and Mang Ke and dissident drama, The Retrial of Wei Jingshen by Wang Keping.
An anthology of Hong Kong writing, the only one of its kind in English, spanning the history of Hong Kong letters from their origins to the present day.
The breadth and depth of the Hong Kong works collected... show that the barren rock has become a gem, and... has achieved a distinct voice of its own.'¡ÐThe San Francisco Review of Books.
A collection of fiction and poetry from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, including the works of Eileen Chang, Lin Haiyin (Memories of Old Beijing), Liu Sola and Wang Anyi.
Featuring works from Lu Xun's early and late periods. Paintings by Qiu Sha inspired by Lu Xun's sayings are included.
Liu Xinwu's 'Ruyi', the tale of a school janitor's love for a former Manchu princess told against the background of the history of modern China; articles by sinologists David Hawkes, W.J.F. Jenner and others; contemporary dramas by Wang Peigong and Tao Jun.
A substantial section on Jin Ping Mei featuring selected chapters translated by David T. Roy and scholarly studies by Zhang Zhupo, Philip Sun and Andre Levy. Other highlights include modern fiction by Bei Dao and the classical play The Golden Coins.
Bo Yang's essay 'The Ugly Chinaman'; 'Black Walls' by Liu Xinuw; classical poetry by Li Bo and Li Yu; and contemporary poetry by Bei Dao, Jiang He and Yang Lian. Lithographic illustrations with commentaries from the 19th-century pictorial Dianshizhai huabao.
Featuring a pantheon of classical poets and their modern translators, as well as modern poetry by Mu Dan and Cheng Ch'ou-yu, and discussions of poetics by Qian Zhongshu, Wen Yiduo, Huang Kuo-pin and others.
