Fragmenting Modernisms China Studies Edited by Glen Dudbridge Frank Pieke VOLUME 24 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/CHS Fragmenting Modernisms Chinese Wartime Literature, Art, and Film, 1937–49 By Carolyn FitzGerald LEIDEn • bOSTON 2013 Cover illustration: Ye Qianyu, “Stage Set,” from the 1940 sketch-cartoon series Wartime Chongqing. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data FitzGerald, Carolyn. Fragmenting modernisms : Chinese wartime literature, art, and film, 1937-49 / by Carolyn FitzGerald. pages cm. — (China studies ; v. 24) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-90-04-25098-7 (hardback : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-90-04-25099-4 (e-book) 1. Chinese literature—20th century—History and criticism. 2. Sino-Japanese War, 1937–1945—Literature and the war. 3. Sino-Japanese War, 1937–1945—Art and the war. 4. China—History—Civil War, 1945–1949—Literature and the war. 5. China—History— Civil War, 1945–1949—Art and the war. 6. Motion pictures—China—History—20th century. 7. Art, Chinese—20th century. 8. Modernism (Literature)—China. 9. Modernism (Art)— China. I. Title. PL2302.F58 2013 895.1’09005—dc23 2013003681 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 www.brill.com/brill-typeface. ISSN 1570-1344 ISBN 978-90-04-25098-7 (hardback) ISBN 978-90-04-25099-4 (e-book) Copyright 2013 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Global Oriental, Hotei Publishing, IDC Publishers and Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. All rights reserved. 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CONTENTS List of Illustrations ....................................................................................... vii Acknowledgments ....................................................................................... xi Introduction Out of the Ashes: Towards a Wartime Aesthetics of Dissolution ........................................................................................... 1 Chapter One A Sonnet in an Air-Raid Shelter: Mu Dan and the New Lyricism ............................................................................................ 31 Chapter Two Intersections between Cartoon and National Art: Ye Qianyu’s Search for the Sinicized Cartoon ............................... 79 Chapter Three Wang Zengqi’s Collection of Chance Encounters: The Shifting Essence of the Wartime Short Story ........................ 125 Chapter Four Between Forgetting and the Repetitions of Memory: Fei Mu’s Aesthetics of Desolation in Spring in a Small Town ....................................................................................... 169 Chapter Five Fei Ming’s After Mr. Neverwas Rides a Plane: Wartime Autobiography as History .................................................. 217 Epilogue Searching for Roots: Modernist Echoes in the Post-Mao Era ............................................................................................ 265 Bibliography .................................................................................................. 299 Index ................................................................................................................ 313 Plate Section LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Fig. 1.1 Photograph of Wen Yiduo listening to a student reciting poetry during a February 1945 field trip to the town of Lunan. Photograph from Lianda: A Chinese University in War and Revolution, by John Israel ........................................................................... 33 Fig. 1.2 Photograph of Lianda students and teachers marching to Kunming. Photograph from Lianda: A Chinese University in War and Revolution, by John Israel ......................................................... 37 Fig. 1.3 National Changsha Temporary University Hunan— Guizhou-Sichuan Traveling Corps arrives in the city of Kunming .......................................................................................................... 38 Fig. 2.1 National Cartoon Propaganda Corps member Zhang Leping painting a wall mural of soldiers (1938) ................................................ 80 Fig. 2.2 Truck covered in cartoon propaganda, used to accompany dramatic performances promoting the cause of resistance (1938) ............................................................................................ 80 Fig. 2.3 Photograph of Ye Qianyu (left) with Yue Yiqin (right) in front of the propaganda poster, “Four Heroes of the Air Force” ......................................................................................................... 83 Fig. 2.4 Ye Qianyu, illustrated cover of first edition of Resistance Cartoons, January 1938 ........................................................... 85 Fig. 2.5 Ye Qianyu, “Living for Hatred,” illustrated cover of Resistance Cartoons, March 15, 1938 .................................. Plate Section Fig. 2.6 George McManus, “Bringing up Father,” Feb. 10, 1935 ................................................................................................ 87 Fig. 2.7 Ye Qianyu, “Quitting Alcohol,” from his cartoon strip Mr. Wang ..................................................................................................... 88 Fig. 2.8 Ye Qianyu, “Abandon the Civilian Life, Join the Army,” Xin dongxiang 2.10 (30 June 1939) ...................................................... 90 Fig. 2.9 Ye Qianyu, “Stage Set,” from the 1940 sketch-cartoon series Wartime Chongqing ...................................................................... 94 Fig. 2.10 Ye Qianyu, “The Artery of Transportation in the Hinterland,” from Wartime Chongqing ............................................... 96 Fig. 2.11 Ye Qianyu, “After Exhaustive Bombing,” from Wartime Chongqing .................................................................................................... 97 viii list of illustrations Fig. 2.12 Ye Qianyu, “New Appreciation for Antiques,” from Wartime Chongqing ................................................................................... 100 Fig. 2.13 Ye Qianyu, “Frontline at Shatian,” from his 1942 sketch-cartoon series Escape from Hong Kong ................................. 103 Fig. 2.14 Ye Qianyu, “Inspection,” from Escape from Hong Kong .................................................................................................... 104 Fig. 2.15 Ye Qianyu, “Leaving Kowloon,” from Escape from Hong Kong .................................................................................................... 105 Fig. 2.16 Ye Qianyu, “The Road to Free China,” from Escape from Hong Kong .................................................................................................... 106 Fig. 2.17 Ye Qianyu, Cockfight, 1942 painting produced using watercolor painting and Taijiang leather paper ........... Plate Section Fig. 2.18 Ye Qianyu, “In a Miao Village in Guizhou,” sketch-cartoon produced during his visit to Guizhou in 1942 ........................................................................................................... 110 Fig. 2.19 Zhang Daqian, 1942 copy of wall painting of Buddha image in the Mogao Caves ................................................... Plate Section Fig. 2.20 Zhang Daqian, 1942 copy of Dunhuang wall painting of saint image of West Wei in the Mogao Caves .......... Plate Section Fig. 2.21 Ye Qianyu, “Drum of the Yao People,” 1944 sketch of Dai Ailian performing a regional minority dance ... Plate Section Fig. 2.22 Ye Qianyu, Indian Dance, 1945 oil painting based on his sketches of Indian women performing the Buddhist “Dance of the Offering of Flowers.” ................................... Plate Section Fig. 2.23 Ye Qianyu, Indian Dance Pose, 1948 oil painting ................................................................................ Plate Section Fig. 2.24 Ye Qianyu, Dance of the Offering of Flowers, 1949 oil painting ................................................................................ Plate Section Fig. 2.25 Zhang Daqian, Dance of the Offering of Flowers, 1949 oil painting based on Ye Qianyu’s sketches of Indian dancers ......................................................................... Plate Section Fig. 2.26 Ye Qianyu, “Large Painting Table,” from his 1945 sketch-cartoon series Six Portraits of Zhang Daqian ....................... 117 Fig. 2.27 Ye Qianyu, “Painting a Beard with a Beard,” from Six Portraits of Zhang Daqian ................................................................. 118 Fig. 2.28 Maurits Cornelis Escher,