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Routledge Handbook of Modern Chinese Literature
Ming Dong Gu, Tao Feng
Ba Jin’s fiction and The Family
Publication details https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/doi/10.4324/9781315626994-5 Kristin Stapleton Published online on: 04 Sep 2018
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The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The publisher shall not be liable for an loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material. Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 23:35 25 Sep 2021; For: 9781315626994, chapter3, 10.4324/9781315626994-5 In 1945 he returned toShanghai,In 1945hereturned where helived therest ofhislonglife. Hewas acelebrated China in1940, heleftShanghaiandspentthewar years insouthwest China, constantly. writing inJapan,written where helived from late1933to mid-1935. As Japanese troops advanced across appeared topopularacclaim. the next decade, During hepublished many popularworks, some aboutanarchism.while continuing toread andwrite of1927,out inthespring BaJintraveled toFrance, settledinParis, andstudiedFrench literature warlords imperialists. andinternational Just before openwarfare between thetwo broke parties and theNationalists, oftheChineserevolution eachofwhich claimed leadership againstlocal anarchist, however, of bothofthemajorpoliticalparties, BaJinwas critical theCommunists national SettlementshotChineseprotesters outsideaJapanese-run factory. As acommitted wake oftheMay 30th Incidentof1925, whenpolice in Shanghai’s Inter- British-administered he involved himselfinanarchist circles. ofthecommunist movement Hewitnessedtherise in humanity from theinjusticesembeddedinit. covering a kindred social order spirit, and saving the cruel he dedicated himself to transforming he recalls itseffectsonhim –hewas somoved hecouldnotsleepand, weeping withjoy atdis- tion ofKropotkin’s Appealtothe Young , published inFrench first in1880. Inhisautobiography, Culture movement inChina. Bythetimehewas fifteen, BaJinhadobtainedaChinesetransla- news Chinainthetumultuous from years after eastern oftheNew WWI thatwitnessedtherise took aninterest inevents inthewiderworld, magazinesandreading the toliterary subscribing name (jin). BaJin’s was family wealthy andwell educated. Hisuncles, brothers, andcousinsall anarchist,famous Bakunin(1814–1876), andthelastfrom theChinesespellingofKropotkin’s 1920s, he adopted the pen name Ba Jin, borrowing syllable from the first the name of another Yaotang andLiFeigan, respectively. career inShanghaithelate After helaunched hiswriting province inChina’s interior, inprivate lifehewas known by hisgiven names, andcourtesy Li uptocreate ajustsociety.to rise ofChengdu, intotheLifamily Born the capital ofSichuan emulate hishero, theRussiananarchist Peter Kropotkin (1842–1921), andinspire Chineseyouth andpoliticalactivist,As awriter asPa Chin, BaJin(alsowritten 1904–2005)wishedabove allto Ba Jin returned toShanghaiin1929,Ba Jinreturned wherenovel, hisfirst inFrance, written hadalready In 1923, China, BaJinleftChengduwithhis olderbrother togoschoolineastern where BA JIN’SFICTION AND THE FAMILY Kristin Stapleton Life andcareer 1 3 48 Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 23:35 25 Sep 2021; For: 9781315626994, chapter3, 10.4324/9781315626994-5 chological realistchological distinction.” ofgreat published in1940, andby 1947, withthepublication ofColdNights, BaJinhadbecome “a psy- andscenes.”illusion oflifetohischaracters HsiaarguedthatthisbegantochangeinAutumn , judgment ofC. T. Hsia, BaJin’s novels ofthe1930sdisplay his “manifest inabilitytogive the inventive andprovocative asLuXunandEileenChang. ofsuchluminaries writing Inthecaustic andmostoftherest ofBaJin’strilogy naïve andlessinteresting earlywriting thanthemore in Beijing. ChineseLiterature (Zhongguoxiandaiwenxueguan)ment oftheNationalMuseumModern culate oncemore, elder. andhereemerged asaliterary Heplayed aleadingrole intheestablish- bourgeois sympathies; hisworks were banned. After thedeathofMao, hisnovels begantocir- theCulturalRevolution,During however, forhisanarchist hewas views andpetty criticized Shanghai (Shouhuo). magazineHarvest Writers Association andfoundingeditoroftheliterary figure intheearly literary ofthe years People’s Republic ofChinaandserved asheadofthe the twentieth century, BaJinestablished thecoming-of-agenovel asapopularform. when itappeared andcontinues toappealtheyoung. of More thanany otherChinesewriter gripping.account ofMay TheFamily strife student activism Fourth andfamily was abest-seller their authority. The novels were basedonBaJin’s own life, andmany young readersfoundhis controlwhich patriarchs thelives oftheyoung andprevent socialchangethatmightthreaten represents Chineseidealsofmasculinity, femininity, filiality, astools family harmony by and reference toConfucianprecepts. As withmany aMay-Fourth-era critique, Turbulent Stream whose lives are blighted by theirelders’ cultural practicesjustified adherence topatriarchal by of thelate1910sandearly1920s. ofyoung people stories oftragic aseries offers The trilogy (1940), fictional representation constitutesthemostimportant oftheMay movement Fourth novels ofthe1930s. The Turbulent Stream trilogy, TheFamily (1933), (1938), Spring Autumn and politics and his desire to appeal broadly led him in the direction of melodrama, especially in his thatwould move to tell stories and tried his readers to reflect onsocialproblems. Both his offictionandessays,As awriter BaJin was remarkably prolific; he tohis wrote inservice mind.” nation, abenightedpopulace, anindividual’s existentialangst, oracontinually thwarted sensitive character’s illhealthisusedtoreflect onarangeofbroader problems, including “anenfeebled ter represents practice, theculminationofaliterary pioneered by LuXun, inwhichanindividual “The Last Tubercular ChineseLiterature,” inModern arguingthattheillnessofitsmaincharac- readers. novel,graphic aswell asinfilmand versions. TVserial appeal among young Ithasanenduring remains thepeople’scertainly choice. Translated intomany languages, ithasalsoappeared asa the forward-looking andconfidentcollective subject. ofcommon peopleasliterary socialist realism astheonlyacceptable mode; protagonist theindividual gave angst-ridden way to years ofhislife. inliterature severala NobelPrize times. Illnesskept himoutof public sightforthelastfifteen the Fukuoka Asian CulturalPrize. The Chinesegovernment unsuccessfullynominatedhimfor essays andculture. reflecting onChinesehistory In1990, he was amongthefirstrecipientsof Under thetitle “Record ofRandom Thoughts” (Suixianglu), ofinfluential hepublished aseries be dedicatedtoexplaininghow somany innocentpeoplecouldsuffersoin “New China.” While acknowledging the popularity of While acknowledging thepopularity Turbulent Stream, considerthe critics many literary Of allBaJin’s novels, ColdNightscouldbesaidtowinthecritics’ award, but TheFamily 5 After 2 He publicly criticized theCulturalRevolution, Hepublicly criticized callingforamuseum to famously Cold Nights, Tang argues, the founding of the PRC led to the establishment of Ba Jin’sBa Family andThe fiction Literary achievements Literary 4 Xiaobing Tang analyzedCold Nights inachapterentitled 49 3 ideals Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 23:35 25 Sep 2021; For: 9781315626994, chapter3, 10.4324/9781315626994-5 Ba Jin revised world.changing As many have BaJinscholars pointedout, andsomehave documentedindetail, was how concern besttoactinarapidly to thelives ofreaders whoseprimary ofthemajority toimproveand try thesocialorder, ofbeautyorcreativity unrelated notonabstractprinciples to judgeliterature, hewould argue, was onhow effectively itstimulated peopletoreflect on Jin tried torelate tohis readers,Jin tried communicate withthem, to address their and adapthiswriting ences inorder toproduce goodwork. More thanmosttwentieth-century Chinese writers, Ba andinteract with theiraudi- of 1942. needed tounderstand andartists Maoarguedthatwriters MaoZedong inhisfamous Party Chairman “Talks atthe Yan’an onLiterature Forum and Art” have tothe ideal of subscribed “literature toserve thepeople,” later promoted by Communist novel aswords from hisheart, notasawork thatcouldnotbeimproved ofart by rewriting. screen. to his fans, In letters published to the novel as prefaces or as essays, his he characterized other writers, suchasCao Yu (1910–1996), forthestageand hisstory totransform ing. reflecting hisidealismabouthuman commonalityratherthana- understand keen sociological types ofspeecheffectively – servant andmasteralltendtospeakthinkinthesameregister, ofspeechhehadpickedby upwhilestudyinginFrance. patterns Hedidnotcapture different He was notknown asaprose stylist; foundhislanguagestiltedandtooinfluenced somecritics wordhis approachaspragmaticratherthanperfectionist. tothewritten canbecharacterized below. munity. ofChineseculture offered inTheFamilyThe critique willbediscussedinmore detail hierarchical socialorder tobechallengedby ofthecom- theyoung members andmarginalized human happinessbut rathertobuttress thepower andmake of patriarchs itimpossible forthe name ofsocialconventions. Suchconventions, hisplotsreveal, to are setupnottocontribute work, believe thatfictionoffered themosteffective vehicle forculturalcritique. Like mostofhisother that were tobeseenasoppressive beginning andbackward. As withLuXun, BaJincameto ofyoung couldcapture thehearts readers viaapassionate attackonculturalpractices writers work: Chineseliterature standoutclearlyinhismostfamous tions tomodern heshowed how in 1933andquicklyestablished itselfasthemostwidelyread novel oftheera. BaJin’s- contribu oppressive socialorder. and for Shanghaiandthefreedom family itpromises from thetragediesoflifeinacorrupt after hediestheatmosphere becomeseven worse. The novel endsastheidealisticJuehui heads conversion into a more old man is too late to save understanding of the grandfather the family; andhisvulgarconcubine.and behave thepatriarch whileflattering hypocritically A deathbed particular, ofthebehavior ofhisunclesandaunts, critic becomesaharsh whoabuse theservants by May dictates. values, Fourth andotherfamily Juehui, marriages choosetodefyarranged in andwhatwork heshouldtakesions aboutwhomheshouldmarry up. Hisbrothers, inspired the younger generation. Juexin himselfhasaccepted, althoughvery unhappily, hiselders’ deci- impose disciplineonhisbrothers, GaoJuemin andGaoJuehui, of andontheothermembers the future headofthefamily, eldestbrother GaoJuexin to isexpectedby hisgrandfather grandfather,ruled autocratically family bytheir the confinesofalarge theGaopatriarch. As The Family chronicles thelives ofthree young brothers toachieve asthey try happinesswithin In this approach to literature, with its responsiveness to readers’ opinions, Ba Jin seems to Because BaJin’s interest inliterature grew largelyoutofhiscommitmenttosocialchange, The Family, foraShanghainewspaper in1931–32, asaserial written appeared inbookform 6 From hispointof view, though, stylisticweakness was flaw. notafatal Thebasisonwhich The Family highlightsthetragediesthatresult inthe whenhumansympathy issacrificed The Family several times over appeared. the decades after it first Kristin Stapleton The FamilyThe 50 7 He encouraged Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 23:35 25 Sep 2021; For: 9781315626994, chapter3, 10.4324/9781315626994-5 ers trapped in an air-tight ironers house, in his metaphor have hopesofradicalchangeamongtheyoung aboutraising false – awakening worried sleep- gation andtoencouragethemchangetheirlives by standingupforthemselves. LuXunmay widely toyoung readers. appealed(andstillappeals) seeking tochangesocietydespitetheoppositionoftheirelders toBaJin’s correspond the detailsofstory own life; thegeneraloutlineofoppressed youth thatrequire thatthey andtheculturalnorms submitto him.them by theirgrandfather Many of in 1919, appealtotheboys, but they seemimpossible toattain, given thecontrol exercised over tion. The ideals of democracy and science, promoted by the May movement Fourth launched crat, Juehui’s ordering eldestbrother, Juexin, toenforce hisdictatesamongtheyounger genera- students.between andangry arrogant soldiers Juehui’s asanauto- thefamily rules grandfather warlords vie to control the city in which he lives, leading to street battles and confrontations remarries, dies.his father andthen his father Meanwhile, theQing dynasty has collapsed and tagonist whoseliferesembles BaJin’s, recalls anidyllicchildhoodlostashisbeloved motherdies, identify with, onebasedonBaJin’s asayouth. own experiences GaoJuehui, theyoung pro- offered thebesthopeforliberationofhumankind. den workers andpeasants, aswell asforhaving believed thatanarchism ratherthancommunism ing too much aboutthe plight ofrelatively young privileged people, asopposedtodowntrod- vision oftherole ofliterature from thatchampionedby Mao. Hewas criticized, rather, forcar- theCulturalRevolution, during particularly was notbecausehehad afundamentallydifferent even more easilythanintheearlierversions. after1949,That hefellafoulofCommunist critics lostsomeoftheir complexity,the characters sothatheroes andvillainscouldbedistinguished tations for literature in socialist New China. References to bourgeois literature were cut, and concerns. Healsoacceptedtheneedtorevise hisnovels after1949, toaccord withtheexpec- other young peopletopublish aradicalnewspaper. love andrespect. Inthenovel, Juehui isable toforgethisunhappy with homelifeashegathers joining like-minded youth ina “family” thatisdefinedrather by common values and mutual believe, unitedonlyby istoabandonafamily birth, hierarchical relations, infavor andritual of to standup to the unreasonablefails demands ofhiselders. The path forward, Juehui comes to happiness ofthoseheloves; Juexin’s because he wifeRuijuediesamiserable deathinchildbirth ate andcompromise are depictedascowardly, aswell asdevastating tohisown psycheandthe family demandsofitsmembers. the at thesacrifices Hiselderbrother Juexin’s attemptstomedi- generation, hadnosuchreservations. Hispassionisconveyed through Juehui’s angeranddisgust and heroines ofhisworks, includingTheFamily , ofintensecomradely emotion. withthissort way topromote hispoliticalgoals, heattemptedtoinfusetherelationships oftheyoung heroes emotional connectiontothese heroic anarchist figures.writing asa Whenhetookupfiction while inFrance. ofreading KropotkinAs withhisexperience asaboy, BaJinclearlyfeltadeep withanother Jin alsobeganacorrespondence activist,American EmmaGoldman(1869–1940), them toexpress hisoutrageandsupport, and Vanzetti replied withwords ofencouragement. Ba anarchists, Saccoand Vanzetti, were in jail inMassachusetts, accusedofmurder. BaJinwrote to andengagedinpolemicswithChineseCommunists.journals At thetime, two Italian-American cate ofanarchism. While inFrance1927and1928, anarchist forinternational hehadwritten Chengdu. BythetimeTheFamily appeared, hewas quitewell known inShanghaiasanadvo- organization asayouth, andasateenagerpublished essays inhishometown, inanarchist journals isassociatedwithananarchist organization.run insuchan Buthehimselfhadparticipated Ba Jinintendedthenovel young tocomfort peoplecaughtinthestifling family obli- webs of The Family resonated withyoung they could peoplein1930sChinabecauseittoldastory In The Family, BaJindoesnotstateexplicitlythat thenewspaper thatGaoJuehui helps Ba Jin’sBa Family andThe fiction 51 8 – but Ba Jin, a member of that younger Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 23:35 25 Sep 2021; For: 9781315626994, chapter3, 10.4324/9781315626994-5 his work. also credited Japanese writers, includingNatsumeSosekiand Arishima Takeo, asinfluenceson indignation they conveyed society. intheirdepictionoftheevils ofmodern asRomainRolland,authors Victor Hugo, andEmileZolainspired BaJinby theforthright sentiment withsocialcriticism, TheFamily hisaimin writing . consciously orunconsciously, saw inHongloumengamodel” ofawork thatcombinedromantic Shaw, authorofathorough studyofTheFamily anditsdebtstoDream, concludesthat “Ba Jin, of theConfucianSociety, andrealizes thatJuehui cannotsave fate. herfrom thathorrible Craig suicide there when she is told she must become the concubine of the evil Feng Leshan, head cousins.in As Garden ofDreamtheRedChamber, where Dream’s hero JiaBaoyu lives happilywithhisfemale andJuehuiof theirelders expresses hislove forMingfeng, closelyresembles theGrand View garden,The Gaofamily anidyllic atfirst world where thecousinsescapefrom thesupervision home up toapoint. But BaJin’s childhood home hadno huge garden like theone in the novel. compound inTheFamily theGaofamily ,Ba Jinconcerns whichresembles BaJin’s childhood in thepastwhenBaJinwas young. processes China,the new beingintroduced industrial ineastern Chengduwas notatallmired its culture was conservative certainly insomeways anditseconomy onlyindirectly affectedby attitudesabouthuman equality.Chinese citiesseeminglyuntouchedby modern But, although representative of all elite Chinese families, and the city in which they lived representative of all native inhisfiction. TheFamily’s was depictionoftheGaofamily intendedtomake itstandas eth century. Unlike LiJieren (see Chapter 5), BaJindidnotemphasizehisidentity asaChengdu work: theinfluenceofintellectual himinChengdutheearlytwentiworld surrounding - ticularly evident inTheFamily, asdocumentedandanalyzedby many scholars. literature,great novel andtheinfluenceof DreamoftheRedChamber(Hongloumeng)ispar- oppression. Qin, quotesalinefrom Turgenev’s OntheEve toencouragehimselfbebrave of intheface Tsar Alexander IIandwas hangedforitin1881. Juehui’s brother Juemin, whoisinlove with a heroine inemulation ofSophiaPerovskaya, aplottoassassinateRussian whohelpedformulate between in thecentralcharacters Tolstoy’s. Resurrection Juehui’s femalecousin, Qin, aspires tobe who serves asamaidinhisbranchofthefamily, hecompares theirmutual attachmenttothat on literature and history author ofanexcellentEnglish-languagebiography ofBaJin, points outtheimpactofRussian enced by hisbroad reading inChineseandEuropean fictionandotherliterature. OlgaLang, strong andpowerful. NationalismisnotasignificantthemeinBaJin’s fiction. May-Fourth era, was notmotivated hiscriticism by adesire toseearejuvenated Chinabecome Ba Jinwas ofChinesetradition, afierce critic but, ofthepost- unlike many otherleftistwriters interest considerations. ofmundane family young menandfeature sub-plots in whichlove between two inthe young peopleissacrificed centeronthethemeofaconflictin values betweenpoints outthatbothstories and patriarchs Chinese culture. that Chengdu’s anti-Confucianintellectual, notorious Wu Yu (1872–1949), hadonhisviews on to beinBaJin’s fiction. InTheFamily anditssequels, BaJinsubtlyacknowledges theimpact anarchist society. Chengdu’s elite community was not as attached to the old ways as it appears have toYouth acquired acopy ofaChineseedition ofKropotkin’s andtohave joinedan Appeal Another sort ofinfluenceon Ba Jintendstobe Another sort overlooked inthescholarlyliterature onhis Well before he encountered European and Japanese literature, Ba Jin read widely in Chinese In addition to passionate anarchist visions of human community, Ba Jin’s were writings influ- 11 9 French literature alsomadeitsmarkonTheFamily. Kong Xiangxianotesthatsuch Dream, tragedyeventually comestotheGaofamily’s garden – Mingfengcommits 16 The Family. When Juehui in love falls with Mingfeng, the young girl 15 Ifithadbeen, itwould have beendifficultforBaJinto Kristin Stapleton 13 Another clearexampleoftheinfluenceDreamon 52 14 10 BaJinhimself 12 ChenQianli Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 23:35 25 Sep 2021; For: 9781315626994, chapter3, 10.4324/9781315626994-5 canon thatseemedtojustifyoutrageousconduct. examplesfromassessment oftheinhumanityConfuciantraditionby theclassical offering Xun’s hadappeared inanearlierissueofthesamejournal). story toLuXun’s Helenthissupport Family Rituals” (Chiren delijiao)published intheNovember 1, 1919,New Youth issueof (Lu publicize LuXun’s story ofaMadman”“Diary by praisingitinanessay called “Cannibalistic ofthe Newsponded withtheleaders Culture movement, includingChenDuxiu. Wu Yu helped been punishedforhislackoffilial respect. Instead, he remained active- inlocalpoliticsandcorre Revolution had not intervened and brought an end to Qing rule, Wu Yu mightindeed have attack on his father’s morals and behavior, an act that resulted in callsforhisarrest. If the 1911 educational community ofunfilialconduct, Wu an Yu anddistributing responded by printing In 1910, though, withhisfather. hehadabitterfalling-out Accused by ofthelocal theleaders native ofChengdu, hemoved there asayouth anddeveloped areputation asaclassicalscholar. ing concubine, whoissaidtohave thefamily. before entering beenacourtesan InAutumn, the themselves topowerful Mistress Chen, men –particularly theGaopatriarch’s vulgarandschem - elders. InTheFamily , themselves theactors are equatedwiththewomen whousesextoattach are Confucian held up asasign of thedecadence of these hypocritical men inthe Gao family perform. The implied sexualrelationships between thecross-dressing andsomeofthe actors to thepositive accountsofthenew-style “spoken plays” (huaju)thatJuehui andhisbrothers who portrayed and the actors with disapproval, female rolesopera performances drip in contrast sinister, profligate,ridiculous inTheFamily or. Mostobviously, BaJin’s depictionsofSichuan and,and grandfather like them, was fondofmany oftheculturalpracticesthatare madetoseem more narrowly strandsofChinesethought. oncertain Wu Yu was acquaintedwithBaJin’s uncles and distinguisheshimfrom olderintellectualssuchas Wu Yu, focused whoseculturalcritique old, oppressive Chineseculture ingeneral. tion asawhole. InTheFamily, Feng Leshan andtheConfucianSocietyare madetosymbolize toassociateeverything they saw1930s writers asbadinChineseculture withtheclassicaltradi- as sound and valuable. Ba Jin, on the other hand, to a tendency among 1920s and contributed dynasty neo-Confucianthinkers onearlierChinese philosophy, many aspectsofwhichhesaw topeelawaycated himselftotrying influenceofSongandMing whathesaw asthepernicious there isnoevidence thatithadcirculated before theMingdynasty(1368–1644). Wu Yu dedi- andearlytwentieth century,associated withConfucianwisdomintheQingperiod although inwomen”ent isavirtue (nürenwucaibianshide). This phrasewas oneofmany thatcametobe has visitedthegirls’ schoolsheattends, where hetoldtheassembled studentsthat “lack oftal- later.centuries For example,, inSpring thesequeltoTheFamily, thatFeng Qinreports Leshan by quotingpithy sayings thatthey associatewithConfucius, but thatoftendatefrom many fucian Society, expectabsoluteobediencefrom theyounger generation, justifyingthemselves Yu did. In Turbulent Stream, Feng Leshan, andhisfriend theGaopatriarch headoftheCon - filiality andpropriety. ofChineseculture than much further hiscritique ButBaJincarried Wu of theyoung andsubjectedthemtoendlessdemandsregulate their conductinthenameof system(dajiazuzhidu)systematicallybroketral pointabouthow family thepatriarchal thespirit known inChengduwhenBaJinwas young. TheFamily was intendedtoillustrate Wu Yu’s cen- submissive people.” Chinese society into to produce had turned families for patriarchal factory “a great its support Yu theneo-Confucianorthodoxy that dominatedscholarlycircles andargued that criticized in Chengdu1920andthenacollectionofhisessays thatwas nationwide, distributed Wu Wu Yu, like BaJin, was ofwealthy the scionofafamily landowners. Although hewas nota The disdainthatBaJinfeltformostaspectsofeliteChengdu lifeisapparent inTheFamily of The history Wu Yu’sfather andhisanti-Confucianviews conflictwithhis were widely 18 Ba Jin’sBa Family andThe fiction 53 17 In “On FilialPiety” (Shuoxiao), published Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 23:35 25 Sep 2021; For: 9781315626994, chapter3, 10.4324/9781315626994-5 out, funeralshave longoccupiedacentral placeinChineseculturalpractice. UnderConfucian depicted as an honorable act, superstition. not as ridiculous Kutcher points Norman As historian husband’sher cruel family, – canbeatease, sothatherghost –andliving grandmother is ogy, Juexin’s toseethathisyoung longstruggle cousinZhouHuiisgiven aproperby burial has fallen.the decadent state into whichthe family InAutumn,- the final volume of thetril Huang, the older woman servant who speaksasthe voice of conscience inthe novel, sighsover Mingfeng’s deadbodyissimplymade to disappear. Commenting on Mingfeng’s death, Mama improper treatment ofthebodiesdeceasedyoung women asasymbolofmoralbankruptcy. itselfisapparent inarecurrentthemethroughoutdoes notreject ritual Turbulent Stream: the Year dinnercelebrationinvolving fourgenerationsoftheGaofamily.Another signalthatBaJin can be very powerful rituals family emotionally. This is seen early in the novel in a joyous New Ba Jin implies that, of the trilogy in otherparts care members about each other, whenfamily attheendofTheFamily forthepatriarch , sceneofmourning rituals. Incontrasttothejarring as “absurd spectacles” and barbarity.”“premodern Butheisnotconsistentinhisattackonfamily into alifeofshameonthestage. he was raisedina “good” family, but was kidnappedaway from hiswidowed mother and forced byactors providing for ZhangBixiu, apatheticbackstory theprotégé ofonetheGaouncles: final novel ofthe Turbulent Stream trilogy, however, BaJinattemptsto evoke sympathy forsuch seen withfresh eyes.” its conventional contextbut ratherforadisplacedkindofeffect –thatanabsurd spectacle find, whereupon in anage-oldcustom receives thespotlightnotforsignificanceitcarries suchasthisfuneral, rituals presents family shewrites, as “something ofanexoticethnographic time. There are no tears, becausethey are following instructions, notgenuinely sorrowful. BaJin ofguests,announces thearrival but occasionallymake mistakeswailing andbegin atthewrong them emotionally or intellectually. The women wail on cue when the master of ceremonies are merely meansnothingto all oftheparticipants goingthrough themotions –ritual forthedeceasedpatriarch. ofthisevent,of mourning Hisdescription sheargues, assumesthat the scene near the end of family rituals was calculated to make rituals such practices appear ridiculous. family givesher relationship totheGaopatriarch hertoputtheyounger generationinitsplace. that Mistress Chenmay notreally believe – shejustwants inthissuperstition tousethepower childbirth.produced during Ba Jin’s depictionof the episode, however, suggests to the reader by anattackofthe canbeharmed (inthiscasetheGaopatriarch) deceased person “bloodglow” givesjustification Mistress Chen actisalocalbeliefthattheafterlifeof recently forthiscruel Ruijue, compoundwhensheisabouttogive outofthefamily birth, causingherdeath. The the patriarch’s concubine, Mistress Chen, are unrelievedly bad, forcing Juexin tomove hiswife, quent disgust withhimself, and his growing resolution to break out of the family. The aunts and Mingfeng, similarly, toshedlightonJuehui’s functionsprimarily initialbetrayal ofher, hissubse- general. Qincannotovercome toahighercause. herfeminineemotionsinservice revolutionary beliefsisusedtohighlightthemore revolutionary characterofJuehui, andmenin scholarJinFeng arguesthatQin’sary refusal todefyhermother’s wishesinorder toactonher as BaJin’s fiction would have it. he have conduct, seenatasteforoperaasinconflictwithupright neo-Confucianorotherwise, magazines inthe1910s. Like thefictionalGaouncles, he was notatallpuritanical, nor would cross-dressingthe beauty and talents of the famous in essays actors and poems published in local As Chow suggests, beliefs andcustomary BaJindoesindeedseemtotreat rituals many family The literary critic Rey thatBaJin’s Chow critic writes The literary practicing depictionsoffemalecharacters Ba Jin’s rathersimplisticdepictionsofwomen inTheFamily have attractedcriticism. Liter- 22 The Family ceremonies in which the Gao women conduct formal 19 Wu Yu, incontrasttoBaJin, loved Sichuanoperaandpraised Kristin Stapleton 54 21 She cites in particular She cites in particular 20 of The fate Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 23:35 25 Sep 2021; For: 9781315626994, chapter3, 10.4324/9781315626994-5 blazing outintothenight: Dun’s ofMao his views paragraph inaway ofShanghaiinthefirst thatseemstoechothedescription andproduction. delightinindustry and shared amodernist Inoneessay from 1934, heexpressed ofEsperanto,enthusiastic supporter whichhehoped would becomethefuture world language, his depictionofSichuanoperaasdisgustingandChengducustomssuperstitious. Hewas an wen, antipathy andacertain forfolkculture, hehadlittleinterest inlocalhistory asindicatedin he leftChengduin1923. suchasLiJieren, Unlike contemporaries LaoShe, andShenCong- progress were shapedby after inShanghaiandParis many aspectsoftheculture heexperienced Chengdu culture, however, tastesandideasaboutwhatconstituted suggeststhathispersonal the beliefs, conventions, andpracticesthatmaintainedit. ofelite The breadth ofhiscritique with thepatriarch, designedtoallow respect rituals andlove tobesuitably expressed must fail. of oppression. When real respect andlove isnotpresent, aswiththeGaowomen’s relationship has beendeniedaproper burial. from theiruseastools arises BaJin’s rituals of family criticism sorrow forthelossofhiscousinHuicannotbeexpressed athergrave appropriately becauseshe revolutionary youth sympathizewiththepain thatJuexin amongthecharacters feelswhenhis andrelationships isputondisplay. rituals family Incontrast, inAutumn, andthe boththenarrator the patriarch’s funeralistheevent where andselfishnessthatBaJinsaw allofthehypocrisy in aregrandsons. the andself-gratification sinsdisplayedworst Hypocrisy intheGaohousehold; themselves, the older males have betrayed the very values they demand from their sons and case with Wu Yu, Juehui’s isfueledby angerathiselders asensethat, by behaving improperly nese culturalvalues. This isapparent intheactionsandthoughtsofGaoJuehui. As was the ties instatusandpower. Family donetohumanrelations by- inequali –theharm teachingsthatimposeandjustifygreat Ba Jin’s offuneralsthroughout critique Turbulent Stream isrelated tohismainthemeinThe for theyoung andinnocent.” and depravation, asaplaceofsexualpromiscuity andmoralcorruption, andasadangerous trap China, ofmodern tural imagination thecityrepeatedly emergedasasource ofcontamination ists ofthe1930sand’40s. Literature andfilmscholarZhang Yingjin pointsoutthatin “thecul- develop theirtalents andexpress themselves withoutrestraint andincompany withlike-minded rather than a dangerous trap, it is held up as a liberated and liberating world, where people can and street, where revolutionary youth can demonstrate anddemandprogress. As forShanghai, tobechallengedbycompounds thatare thenew onlybeginning socialspacesofthe school city: aconglomerationofclosedand oppressiveall qualitiesofamodern family itisprimarily precepts, however, thenature oftheceremony according varied tothestatusofdeceased. Shaped by hisanarchist training, BaJinintendedTheFamily ofhierarchy asacritique and haveAs many critics observed, forallofhisiconoclasm, BaJinwas deeplyshapedby Chi- This enthusiasm for material progresscitieswas notshared andmodern This enthusiasmformaterial by allChinesenovel- machines, I love civilization. material selves withtheir civilization.”“spiritual As forme, I say onceagain, I love cities, I love the cities, themachines, whocurse them- civilization gocomfort material who curse it). socialsystem(andsoweperverse shouldtransform Letthosepeoplewhocurse and powerful peoplethemeanstoenjoy luxuries. Butthisshouldbeblamed onour workers tosuffer, ofwealthy civilizationasmallminority only offers andthatmaterial hot, fast, powerful. I know thatcitiescontainmuch thatisevil, thatmachinescause I love cities, I love machines, I love civilization. what they callmaterial They are alive, Midnight (Ziye, 1933), whichculminateswiththeEnglishwords “Light, Heat, Power” 25 InTheFamily, Chengdu, thehometown of theGaofamily, lacks Ba Jin’sBa Family andThe fiction 24 55 23
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the tragedy running throughthe tragedy running in 1937. For themostpart, BaJin’s later fiction lackstheoptimistic,rises above that hopefulspirit cityrecededShanghai andthethemeofpromise afterwar ofthemodern withJapan began to beyet marriage. anotherawful arranged suade hiscousinGaoShuyingtofollow toavoid himtoShanghaiasshestruggles whatpromises new revolutionary life. in thesequel,This seemsconfirmed thatitwillsavecertain andhelphimforgea himfrom strife suffocatinginthedepthsoffamily comrades. Juehui’s himintoaplayboy, auntspredict thatShanghaisocietywillturn but heis himself “a childoftheMay Movement.” Fourth through intoBaJin’sried laternovels Garden ofRepose (1944)andColdNights. to deal effectively (and usually failing) demands and social pressurestruggling with family car- This shiftfrom afocusonrevolutionary youth andweak toafocusonemotionallyfragile men of forJuexin,bright whoendsupbeingasurvivor. Thus, whileGaoJuehui isthemainprotagonist in thisregard, JiaBaoyu’s maid Aroma in Dream of the Red Chamber). The future lookssomewhat second Mingfeng, andpretty, caring but more pragmaticandself-confident(strongly resembling, namedCuihuan –almosta servant girl and establishes asmallhousehold. acharming Hemarries rewrote theending: Juexin moves compound, outofthefamily whichhas beensoldtostrangers, own eldestbrother’s sadend. But, inresponse topleasfrom hisreaders tosave Juexin’s life, he withJuexin’sthat hehadintendedtoendthetrilogy suicide, whichwould have reflected his it together tohonorhisdeceasedgrandfather’s wishes. Inanessay aboutAutumn, BaJinrevealed patriarchy. estate, Hisunclesandauntsbreak upthefamily tokeep despitehisdesperateefforts Autumn, hisbeloved sonHai’erdies, asdotwo ofhisfavoritecousins, more young victimsof forShanghai,to depart fullyexpectingnever toseehimagain. and Over ofSpring thecourse of GaoJuexin. InTheFamily, Juehui’s andsadlysupports heloseshiswifeinchildbirth decision occupies a significant place in the history of modern Chineseliterature. ofmodern occupies asignificantplaceinthehistory many more novels, stories, andessays, but The Family standsoutas his most loved work and account ofthe movement and theideaspassionsthatinspired it. Hislongcareer produced activism ofthatera, hecreated anovel, TheFamily, thatisthemostwidelyinfluentialliterary 4 3 2 1 The Family, GaoJuexin isthecentralcharacterof Turbulent asawhole. Stream trilogy As notedabove, BaJin’s laternovels differconsiderably from his1920sandearly1930swork. In hisbiography ofBa Jin, scholar Chen Sihe notes that BaJinnever literary stopped calling be foundinLeoOu-fanLee’sarticle, “LiteraryTrends:TheRoadtoRevolution1927–1949,”inMerle pages 250and386.Anequallycondemnatory reviewofBaJin’searlywork,especiallyTheFamily,may C. T.Hsia,AHistoryofModernChineseFiction (NewHaven:YaleUniversityPress, 1961),quoteson fornia Press,fornia 2004), 158. Is History: History, Violence, andFictional in Writing Twentieth-Century China(Berkeley: University ofCali- David Der-wei Wang refersto Family asa “revolutionary bildungsroman.” See Wang, Monster That The the MuseumofBaJin’s Literature], www.bjwxg.cn. Accessed 4,April 2017. onhislife andwriting. accesstomuch scholarship offers “Ba Jinwenxueguan shouye” [Homepage of residence inShanghai,cated toBaJinhimselfhasopenedinhisformer withanassociatedwebsite that www.wxg.org.cn/gydh/lsyg/cjcs/2011-03-23/11966.shtml. Accessed April “Zhongguo xiandaiwenxueguan lishiyange” Literature] oftheNationalMuseumModern [History the list of further readings. the listoffurther lee Chai(Indianapolis: University ofIndianapolis Press, 2008). ofBaJinmay Biographies befoundin shenghuo, 1936); thelatterhasappeared inEnglishtranslation: The Autobiography ofBaJin, trans. May- Ba Jinpublished many essays autobiographical andonebook-lengthmemoir,(Shanghai: Wenhua Yi The Family and Kristin Stapleton Notes .Spring One exception, however, the fate concerns 56 26 in theyouthAs awitnesstoandparticipant ,Spring home per- when hisletters 4, 2017. A museum dedi-
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9 8 7 6 5 Yeqiang chubanshe, 1991), 39. Sihe, Chen (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1996), 11. Zhang, Yingjin 1934). in BaJin’s essay collectionLütusuibi[RandomNoteswhile Traveling] (Shanghai: Shenghuoshudian, [Select essays by Ba Jin](Hangzhou: Zhejiangwenyi chubanshe, 1991), 234–236. published Originally Ba Jin, “Haizhuqiao” [OceanPearl Bridge], inZhejiangwenyi chubanshe, ed., BaJinsanwenjingbian eds., DoingEmotionsHistory(Champaign,IL:UniversityofIllinoisPress,2013),57–73. Norman Kutcher,“TheSkeinofChineseEmotionsHistory,”inSusan J.MattandPeterN.Stearns, (Summer2008),New Literary History vol. 39, no. 3, 565–580, quoteon566. Rey Chow, “Translator, Traitor: Translator,Fact andFiction, (or, 79–81. Mourner Dreaming ofIntercultural Equivalence),” in Stapleton,An expandedversion may ofthediscussioninnextthree paragraphs befound inKristin sity Press, 2004), 83–100. Feng, Jin Stapleton, Kristin journal, onJanuary 4, 1920. inZhaoandZheng, Reprinted eds., ji , Wu Yu 172–177. Wu Yu, “Shuo xiao” [OnFilialPiety], [Sunday], published inXingqiri originally aChengduliterary (Chengdu: Sichuanrenmin chubanshe, 1985), 167–171. Wu Yu, “Chiren dilijiao,” inZhaoQingandZhengCheng,of Wu[Collected Works eds., ji WuYu] (Lanham,Chinese Modernity Yu MD: LexingtonPress, 2008), 131–148. Chow, Tze-ki Hon, Hung-yok IpandDonC. Price, eds., Beyond theMay Paradigm: Fourth of InSearch in theMay Movement: Fourth Wu Yu (1872–1949)andthePolitics ofFamilyReform,” inKai-wing On Wu Yu’s appearanceinTheFamily anditssequels, seeStapleton, “Generational andCulturalFissures ily (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2016), two chapters andseven. particularly For afullerdiscussionofthistheme, Stapleton, seeKristin Fact inFiction: 1920sChinaandBaJin’s Fam- Craig Shaw, “Ba Jin’s Dream,” 121. 3, 36–47. ofDreamtheRedChambertoRepublic-era Literature],Contributions Wenxue yuwenhua(2016), no. Chen Qianli, “Lun