Signposts of Self-Realization Ideas, History, and Modern China Edited by Ban Wang, Stanford University Wang Hui, Tsinghua University VOLUME 8 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/ihmc Signposts of Self-Realization Evolution, Ethics and Sociality in Modern Chinese Literature and Film By Xinmin Liu LEIDEN | BOSTON Brill has made all reasonable efforts to trace all rights holders to any copyrighted material used in this work. In cases where these efforts have not been successful the publisher welcomes communications from copyright holders, so that the appropriate acknowledgements can be made in future editions, and to settle other permission matters. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Xinmin, Liu. Signposts of Self-Realization : Evolution, Ethics and Sociality in Modern Chinese Literature and Film / by Xinmin Liu. pages cm. — (Ideas, History, and Modern China ; 8) Includes index. ISBN 978-90-04-19609-4 (hardback : acid-free paper) — ISBN 978-90-04-26535-6 (e-book) 1. Chinese literature—20th century—History and criticism. 2. Chinese literature—21st century—History and criticism. 3. Self (Philosophy) in literature. 4. Self-realization in literature. 5. Self-perception in motion pictures. 6. Ethics in motion pictures. 7. Ethics in literature. I. Title. PL2303.X5594 2014 895.109’353—dc23 2013046907 This publication has been typeset in the multilingual ‘Brill’ typeface. With over 5,100 characters covering Latin, ipa, Greek, and Cyrillic, this typeface is especially suitable for use in the humanities. For more information, please see brill.com/brill-typeface. issn 1875-9394 isbn 978 90 04 19609 4 (hardback) isbn 978 90 04 26535 6 (e-book) Copyright 2014 by Koninklijke Brill nv, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill nv incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Nijhoff, Global Oriental and Hotei Publishing. All rights reserved. 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To Snowflake (Vivienne), Willow (Yiyi) and Jane (Qian) ∵ Contents Acknowledgments viii Part 1 An Introduction to Self-Realization in Modern China 1 1 Sociality in Early Modern China: An Ontological Appraisal 3 2 Historicizing Social Development and Self-Realization 29 Part 2 Ethical Imperative and Social Progress 47 3 Fountainheads of Change: Yan Fu’s Tussle with Evolution 49 4 Empathetic Vision in Yu Dafu’s Fiction 85 5 An Exile of Self-Disinheritance: Revisiting Qu Qiubai 116 6 Non-Epiphany in Ye Shaojun’s Lyrical Vision 157 Part 3 Post-Revolutionary Self-Remaking and Global Development 195 7 How Steel Is Tempered: The Making of a Revolutionary Hero 197 8 Retributive Memories: Self-Realization in the Post-Mao Era 224 9 Zhang Chengzhi’s Reinvention of Ethnic Identity 262 Glossary 302 Works Cited 317 Index 329 Acknowledgments My thoughts on writing this book first took shape in the seminar room of an east-coast Ivy League campus over a decade ago, and it is with mixed feelings that I acknowledge the fact that I can now see them through print—not because this is in anyway a lesser accomplishment than I have longed to cherish, but because the changes of time and place which my mid-life has absorbed and endured have at last borne fruit out of a strenuous growth, but not without being tempered by spells of anxiety, skepticism and predilection I have been tussling with up to this point of my personal journey. Over the years, the writing of this book progressed, digressed and at times stalled as my life of being an “academician” in the US followed a long, strenuous and occasionally disori- enting course. I stuck to it thus far owing more to my resolve to reach my avowed goal of proving the worth of my life-long avocation of teaching than to the necessity to obtain hard-copy proof to climb the heights of academic ascent. In a way I feel I have been vindicated by the resilience and fortitude I was able to display in having undying faith in and keeping tirelessly at the issue of self-realization, both virtual and actual. While it is true that many of the character-building, mettle-tempering encounters through my thrice-displaced career always came with heavy tolls to suffer on my part if measured with real-life yardsticks, I never took my eyes off the goal of my pursuit, nor did I miss a turn in moving towards its object. For this reason, I would not hesitate to count the completion of this book one of those hard-earned “moments of truth” that brighten the mind of a seasoned but well-worn academic journeyer like me. Likewise, the choice of the title for this book is emblematic of many such agonizing encounters in the book as well as in my writing of it, but none are more strikingly so than those instances in which I felt disoriented and frustrated about self-realization until I came upon “the signposts”—the guideposts (in their human form of course) for my progress towards the completion of this book. They have been the long-awaited harbingers of hope and meaning; they have pointed me timely to the correct direction for the journey’s end; they have convinced me time and again of the value of following such a path for my pursuit of meaning and values of life as they themselves have previ- ously sought counsel when menaced by similar hazards of vacillation, perplexity and bewilderment. It is therefore to these signposts that I express my indebtedness, grati- tude and (for those deceased) heartfelt homage for delivering me the roadmap to a successful end of the journey, for leading me out of the perplexing mazes and unnerv- ing traps, and occasionally for rescuing me from the verge of a premature forfeiture or termination. I would like first and foremost to express my thanks to those of my mentoring gen- eration: Professors Michael Holquist, Kang-I Sun Chang, and Leo Ou-fan Lee whose academic expertise, life wisdom and personal generosity enabled me to overcome the acknowledgments ix trauma of a disrupted career and unnerving departure from China in the summer of 1989; they refueled my career development and launched me on a renewed academic quest in the US. In the same breath, I want to pay a tribute in memoriam to the late Marston Anderson whose tenure as my first mentor left indelible marks on the project of self-realization I was to undertake; despite the fact that his tenure was abruptly abbreviated by his passing away, his impact on my subsequent research and writing remained enduringly insightful and profound (as can be attested to by my references to his work in the ensuing pages). I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to Ban Wang, Jie Lu, Xiaomei Chen, Thomas Moran, Guobin Yang and many others of my generation, who have been the most trusted source of inspiration, support, and assistance during the entire length of getting this book done. Infinitely more direct, constant and reward- ing as my peer counsel, their guidance has been illuminating, timely and energizing as their criticism has been candid, persuasive and constructive. The enumerable exchanges, discussions and even arguments I have had with them at major confer- ences, seminars and panels over the years have vastly broadened my vision, sharpened my critical wisdom and often times compelled me to further enrich and improve as a scholar and as a person. I owe an unforgettable debt to the graduate and undergradu- ate students I have worked with at Yale, Trinity College, Wesleyan University, and the University of Pittsburgh where in classes and other teach-in venues they willingly turned themselves into sounding boards or “test tubes” for the ideas I have written on the issue of self-realization before I could blend them into the pages of this book. I would also extend my profound gratitude to the East Asian librarians and cataloguers at the college campuses where I have taught, who, in one way or another, assisted me in book search and bibliographical verification at various stages of my writing. Of these unsung heroes two names, Haihui Zhang and Yulian (Lotus) Liu, deserve a spe- cial mention for providing me a service so selfless, diligent and flawless no matter what my inquiry happened to be. While coping with the enormity and complexity of the Glossary, Works Cited, Index and other typographical supplements, I have been ably assisted by Wang Haixia, Lee Yun-ju and Shi Qianqian whose tireless and meticulous labor and care between the lines and across the pages of the manuscript have left me deeply impressed and thankful. Since the moment I first sat myself down to the key board to work on this book, I have had the fortune to be the recipient of ample institutional funds; I am forever indebted to the Yale School of Graduate Studies for a Dissertation Fellowship in 1996– 1997, which enabled me to get the early versions of this project off the ground.