WHOSE REALITY?

THE CHALLENGE OF REALISM IN THE WORK OF MAO DUN

By Joana Carlson Avila
Authors have often used realism as a historical mirror. In its zenith, authors
promoted realism as the most accurate portrayal of human experience, and even allowed
it to serve as a method of recording history. This paper, however, will present a case
against the general acceptance of the historicity of realism, particularly in the wor of
Chinese realist !ao "un #$%&'($&%$). *irst, this essay will trace realism from its roots in
$&
th
Century +urope to its adaptation to revolutionary events in China during the early
part of the ,-
th
Century. .ext, it will examine !ao "un/s realism, focusing especially on
the factors that influenced him most0 foreign authors and ideologies, Chinese tradition
and politics, class struggle, and the emergence of feminism in China. The essay will then
examine two of !ao "un/s wors, The Lin Family Shop and 12pring 2ilworms3 as
examples of his realism. *inally, it will argue that although !ao "un strove to present a
realistic account of Chinese life in the $&4-s, due to intrinsic authorial partiality, he did
not meet his goal of un5iased fiction. This essay poses two 6uestions0 Can realist fiction
convey reality, and if so, whose reality7
Origins of Realis an! I"s Eergen#e in C$ina
8hen 8estern literary historians trace the emergence of realism in China, they
often only recognize its roots in $&
th
century +urope, since these critics are more prone to
focus on aspects of literature that are homologous to their own literary tradition.
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Although 8estern influence is an indispensa5le facet of Chinese realism, it does not
ade6uately represent the history of the genre in China. !ichael 9otz explains,
A prime example of 8estern political and cultural 5iases at wor in the
field of modern Chinese literary studies is the fact that the overwhelming
ma:ority of wor has concentrated on literature of the !ay *ourth period
and the $&4-s;+mphasis is often placed, therefore, on the influence of
+uropean literary movements #romanticism, realism, sentimentalism,
naturalism, and the lie);
,
<ealism did not emerge solely from the 8estern tradition= history also contri5uted to
many classical Chinese texts and much of the prose written during the 2ong, !ing, and
>ing "ynasties.
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8hile it is ethnocentric to assume that Chinese authors imported the
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!ichael 9otz, 1The "evelopment of !odern Chinese ?iterature 2tudies in the 8est0 A Critical @iew,3
Modern China, @ol. ,, .o. 4, ?iterature and <evolution, #Jul., $&A'), 4&%.
,
9otz, 1The "evelopment of !odern Chinese ?iterature 2tudies in the 8est,3 4&%.
4
"avid "er(wei 8ang, Fictional Realism in Twentieth-Century China: Mao Dun, Lao She, Shen Congwen,
Colum5ia Bniversity Cress0 .ew Dor #$&&,), ,%(,&.
realist tradition entirely from the 8est, in their attempt to reconstruct a new society
Chinese realists did loo 5eyond national literature, drawing on +uropean authors and
theories to help construct modern Chinese realism.
This new realism emerged in response to the !ay *ourth .ew Culture !ovement
in $&$& and intellectual activism of the period. !any of these Chinese theorists and
writers were 8esternized intellectuals with an 1elitist attitude3 who studied a5road and
later returned to China with plans to improve the national condition.
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Chen "u Fiu, one
of the most influential thiners of !ay *ourth !ovement, 5elieved realism was the
cornerstone of 1.ew ?iterature.3
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He claimed that literature and the human experience
existed on parallel planesIthat realism reflected the proletarian revolution, the most
advanced stage of social development.
"uring the $&,-s, Chinese writers eager to advance the cause of social revolution
a5andoned the emotive, passionate, and solipsistic genre of Chinese romanticism. They
5elieved that only realist literature could save their nation= if a !arxist revolution were to
occur, only literature that reflected the daily hardships of the proletariat could serve as its
catalyst.
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Because of the insepara5ility of realism from the proletarian revolution, realist
authors exposed woring(class dilemmas, thus prompting their readers to action. <ifts
developed 5etween authors lie !ao "un and ?u Fun, who claimed to strive for purity in
their writing, and other authors who wrote politicized 1socialist realism3. 2ince realist
literature was supposed to accurately portray the proletariat, however, most of these
5ourgeois authors were severely handicapped. *ew had any personal nowledge of
proletarian, merchant, or peasant lifestyles, and as the literary elite, many were more
familiar with the petty 5ourgeois lifestyle they strove to eliminate.
Mao D%n&s Ins'ira"ions an! T$eir I'a#"
Western uthors and !deologies
!ao "un derived his distinct 5rand of realism from an amalgamation of foreign
and indigenous influences, though unlie many of his contemporaries, !ao "un did not
study a5road, encountering 8estern literature at Bei:ing Bniversity and the 2hanghai
Commercial Cress, instead.
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The two 8estern authors who had the most profound
influence were +mile Jola and ?eo Tolstoy.
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"espite their contradictory worldviews and
wors, !ao "un appears to have incorporated 5oth literary giants into his wor,
reshaping their ideologies to fit Chinese paradigms and his own agenda. +arlier literary
critics claimed ignorance shaped !ao "un/s unusual appropriation of 8estern
naturalism. However, "avid "er(8ei 8ang counters that, 1even if K!ao "unL had a full
E
?iping *eng, 1"emocracy and +litism0 The !ay *ourth Ideal of ?iterature,3 Modern China, @ol. ,,, .o.
,, #Apr. $&&'), $%E.
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2ylvia Chan, 1<ealism or 2ocialist <ealism7 The Croletarian +pisode in !odern Chinese ?iterature,3 The
ustralian "ournal o# Chinese ##airs, .o. &, #Jan. $&%4), GG.
'
Caul 9. Cicwicz, Mar$ist Literary Thought in China: The !n#luence o# Ch%& Ch%iu-pai, Bniversity of
California Cress0 Bereley and ?os Angeles #$&%$), x.
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Du(2hih Chen, Realism and llegory in the 'arly Fiction o# Mao Tun, Indiana Bniversity Cress0
Bloomington #$&&'), $A($%.
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8ang, Fictional Realism in Twentieth-Century China, $$.
,
nowledge of naturalism, he might have chosen to misread it in order to accommodate to
new socialMhistorical environments.3
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+mile Jola, the $&
th
century *rench author, and the 1*ather of .aturalism,3 made
significant contri5utions to modern realism. Jola was politically active, and his
involvement in the "reyfus Affair of the $%&-s, in which the *rench government accused
an innocent Jewish officer of espionage, prompted Jola to pen "%ccuse, as an indictment
against the government.
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Although naturalism did not mae inroads into China until the
$&,-s, more than a decade after Jola/s death, !ao "un/s scientific realism #especially
evident in 12pring 2ilworms3) recogniza5ly emulated Jola/s style. Additionally, !ao
"un, lie Jola, tried to accurately portray various classes of Chinese society. ?ooing at
!ao/s early wor, the (illage Trilogy #12pring 2ilworms,3 1Autumn Harvest,3 and
18inter <uins3) portrays rural life, The Lin Family Shop, town life, and Midnight
recreates ur5an society.
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<eflecting a Jolaes6ue concern with the full strata of society,
!ao "un chronicled a day in China, petitioning housewives, prostitutes, and secret
agents, among others, to write down their experiences in )ne Day in China, May *+,
+,-..
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In addition to the naturalism !ao "un adapted from Jola, critics also note the
presence of ?eo Tolstoy/s humanitarianism.
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Tolstoy 5ased most of his wors on :ournal
entries that reflected a deeper devotion to the fate of society than concern with aesthetics.
Although Tolstoy/s Chinese readers had little interest in his 5elief that literature should
advance the Christian 5rotherhood, they gravitated toward Tolstoy/s style 5ecause of his
passion to save society.
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!ao "un strove to 5e the same sort of social savior, and
according to 8ang, 1Though he personally favors sym5olism and neo(romanticism, !ao
"un declares that he is o5liged to promote a realistMnaturalist movement since it 5est
meets China/s current needs.3
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Chinese tradition and climate
In addition to the 8estern influences discussed a5ove, several inherently Chinese
forces influenced !ao "un/s use of historical fiction. "ue to Confucian rationalism, the
lac of an epic tradition, and the derision of mythology among intellectuals, many
Chinese considered history the only indigenous form of prose writing. In fact, fiction did
not distinguish itself from history until writers in the Tang "ynasty adopted fictional
elements from Indian culture.
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!ay *ourth writers felt compelled to document what was
happening in their country during the <evolutionary Ceriod, and authors lie !ao "un
felt a certain urgency to capture events while they remained fresh in their readers/ minds.
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8ang, Fictional Realism in Twentieth-Century China, A-(A$.
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8illiam J. Berg and ?aurey N. !artin, 'mile /ola Re0isited #.ew Dor0 Twayne Cu5lishers, $&&,), $',(
$'4.
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8ang, Fictional Realism in Twentieth-Century China, E&.
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8ang, Fictional Realism in Twentieth-Century China, EG.
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8ang, Fictional Realism in Twentieth-Century China, 4G.
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8ang, Fictional Realism in Twentieth-Century China, A,.
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8ang, Fictional Realism in Twentieth-Century China, A$.
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!arston Anderson, The Limits o# Realism: Chinese Fiction in the Re0olutionary 1eriod, Bniversity of
California Cress0 Bereley and ?os Angeles, #$&&-), ,4.
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Barriers to social transformation seemed to crop up everywhere0 power struggles with
landlords, internal civil war 5etween the 9uomingdang and the Chinese Communist
Carty, and the external war against Japanese aggression. +very aspect of the revolution
influenced society, and authors such as !ao "un used these events as historical
5acdrops for their wor. In !ao "un/s fiction, the author portrays events lie the
!uden Incident of $&4$, the nationalistMcommunist split, and the Japanese closure of
Chinese sil factories in a personal way.
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This focus on current events encourages revisionist history. !em5ers of the
Communist Carty harshly criticized !ao "un/s wor, alleging that his stories, which
aimed at presenting reality, rather than 1socialist reality,3 were nothing more than
15ourgeoisie realism,3 or propaganda.
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In their wors these writers disagreed over
realism/s purpose= orthodox communist mem5ers claimed realism should promote the
proletarian cause 5y focusing on the 5enefits of socialism, while others lie !ao "un
strove to 5e more o5:ective.
The 'mergence o# Feminism in China
In addition to literary and political factors, social changes profoundly influenced
!ao "un. Traditionally, male society o5:ectified and possessed Chinese women, 5inding
them ideologically with Confucian 5onds of chastity and fidelity and physically 5inding
women/s feet to appeal to male fetishes. After the !ay *ourth !ovement, however,
intellectuals made significant strides toward a more egalitarian role for women. !ale
authors tried to portray female protagonists as complex characters, and some 1.ew
?iterature3 authors even wrote their stories from a feminine perspective. !oreover, in the
years that followed, female authors, a rarity under the exclusively male Confucian
education system, emerged, thus allowing women to spea for themselves.
A traditional reading of !ao "un/s wor suggests a compassionate, thoughtful
rendering of female characters, women who show a level of independence and
revolutionary participation not previously allowed. 2ome critics suggest that he is at his
literary 5est in his portrayals of women.
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Others tae a harsher view of these fictional
women, though. They argue that !ao "un/s female characters fall into two distinct
groups0 the virtuous woman and the femme fatale. In wors such as Rain2ow, he shows
the exemplary woman, sacrificing her own desires for the greater good of the revolution,
while in Midnight, he portrays the femme fatale, a woman willing to use her sexuality to
get what she wants.
,-
In the end, the latter incurs punishment for her transgressions and
her am5ition, while the audience lauds the former for her sacrifice.
Class struggle
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8ang, Fictional Realism in Twentieth-Century China, 4$.
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Chan, 1<ealism or 2ocialist <ealism73 G'.
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Chen, Realism and llegory, $$.
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8ang, Fictional Realism in Twentieth-Century China, %G.
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The final influence on !ao "un/s realism addressed here is the role of class
struggle. One of 1.ew ?iterature/s3 main difficulties in its portrayal of class was that
although its authors wrote for the masses, as elites they had little idea what it was lie to
5e a mem5er of the woring class. !ao "un even claimed, 1Ordinary Chinese have
a5solutely no a5ility of artistic appreciation.3
,$
He disparaged authors who wrote for
proletarian audiences, saying that the proletariat/s high illiteracy rates, minimal leisure
time, and lac of interest in the new literary genre made authors/ efforts futile.
,,
!ao
"un/s middle(class 5acground limited his a5ility to fairly portray other classes.
According to 2ylvia Chan, 1Both ?u Fun and !ao "un 5elieved that a writer should
confine himself to the aspects of life he was most familiar with through his own personal
experience;KButL they honestly confessed to their ignorance of the life of the proletariat
and admitted that they were 5etter ac6uainted the petty(5ourgeois intellectuals, shop(
eepers and small farmers.3
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Anal(sis of Mao D%n&s Realis in The Lin Family Shop an! )S'ring Sil*+ors,
It is important to understand how these influences manifest themselves in !ao
"un/s wor, especially as they pertain specifically to The Lin Family Shop and 12pring
2ilworms.3 By analyzing these two wors, 5oth pu5lished in $&4,, which detail the
lives of two different Chinese communities, the reader will see how the aforementioned
pressures pervade !ao "un/s writing.
The Lin Family Shop
The Lin Family Shop recounts the plight of 2hopeeper ?in and his family as they
struggle to pay their de5ts and collect their outstanding loans. Colitical and economic
struggles against invading Japanese troops and corrupt 9uomingdang officials further
complicate their situation. Throughout the story we see, as director 2hui Hua
foreshadows in his screen adaptation, 15ig fish eating the little fish, who in turn ate
shrimp.3
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8ritten in the wae of the catastrophic !uden Incident in !anchuria, which
allowed the Japanese to set up their puppet government in Changchun, the reader cannot
overloo the role of history and current events. The anti(Japanese sentiment reflected 5y
the townspeople is not at all surprising, nor is the anti(9uomingdang position, since the
nationalists were occasionally guilty of 5anditry and extortion. 9iven !ao "un/s own
disillusionment after the collapse of the .ational *ront in $&,A and Chiang Nai(2he/s
extermination expeditions against the Communist Carty, the reader must wonder how
fairly !ao "un could portray the nationalists.
!rs. ?in and A 2hou, the ey female characters in The Lin Family Shop, are 5oth
1exemplary women3. !rs. ?in is devoted to her hus5and and a5ly manages her
household, while A 2hou is the stereotypical Chinese daughter, slightly petulant and
naPve, 5ut o5edient and generally concerned with her family/s well 5eing. !ao "un
departs from traditional female characterization, giving !rs. ?in a strong independent
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*eng, 1"emocracy and +litism,3 $%E.
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Chan, 1<ealism or 2ocialist <ealism73 '-, 'G.
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Chan, 1<ealism or 2ocialist <ealism73 '4.
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The Lin Family Shop #lin 3ia pu 4i). "irected 5y 2hui Hua. Bei:ing, China0 Bei:ing *ilm 2tudio, $&G&.
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strea that manifests itself when she refuses to give her daughter as a concu5ine and
decides that she will allow her hus5and and daughter to escape while she stays 5ehind to
face the authorities. But apart from !rs. ?in/s minor representation of female
empowerment, the author portrays other women, and often !rs. ?in herself, as
superstitious, emotional, and gulli5le.
In similar fashion, individuals outside the woring(class are shown little
compassion or depth of character. The author portrays !r. Du as an extortionist,
concerned only with receiving 5ri5es from local 5usinessmen while pretending to 5e
sympathetic to their concerns, and reduces "irector Cu to a womanizing glutton,
concerned only with his financial and sexual prosperity. Although the reader is generally
encouraged to pity the different levels of society disenfranchising each other, the text
does not permit the reader to show compassion for !r. Du or "irector Cu.
5Spring Sil6worms7
12pring 2ilworms3 examines rural life with the same fatalistic perspective as
The Lin Family Shop. "espite the protagonists/ hard wor, their efforts are futile and they
are destined to grow poorer the harder they wor. As in The Lin Family Shop, current
events play a central role in plot development. In 12pring 2ilworms,3 the introduction of
foreign silworms, which are preferred over native silworms, disrupts the native
Chinese sil industry, and the Japanese invasion of 2hanghai forces sil filatures to close
or 5uy at drastically reduced prices.
The emphasis on class in 12pring 2ilworms3 is evident. +arly in the narrative,
the reader encounters the rise and fall of 5oth !aster Chen/s family and Old Tong Bao/s
family, a change that Old Tong Bao attri5utes to 5oth economic and supernatural forces.
The peasants also express strong anti(foreign sentiments. The reader learns that although
he has never met one, Old Tong Bao hates 1foreign devils,3 and that according to !aster
Chen, 1The foreign devils have swindled our money away.3
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The ma:ority of the women in 12pring 2ilworms3 are traditional nurturers, so it
is interesting to note the conse6uences deviant women in the story face. ?otus is
portrayed as a 1hussy,3 1a shameless, man(crazy 5aggage,3 who has a reputation around
town.
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Considering ?otus/s character and !ao "un/s polarization of women, the reader
is not surprised to learn that of all the families raising silworms, only ?otus/s family has
5ad luc.
T$e Fail%re of Realis in Mao D%n&s Wor*
Although !ao "un/s wor served an important purpose in modern Chinese
literature, it failed to paint an accurate picture of Chinese society in the late $&,-s and
$&4-s.
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All authors struggle with the issue of perspective and personal experience, 5ut as
a realist author, !ao "un faced these 5urdens in a more pro5lematic way, since his
influences could never 5e completely divorced from his wor. In !ao "un/s case,
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!ao "un, The Shop o# the Lin Family and Spring Sil6worms, trans. 2idney 2hapiro #Bei:ing0 *oreign
?anguages Cress, ,--$), $E&.
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!ao, The Shop o# the Lin Family and Spring Sil6worms, $'4, $'G.
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Chan, 1<ealism or 2ocialist <ealism73 G%.
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elements of unintentional 5ias are evident. As an author and editor, he alienated himself
from the masses, maintaining the elitist position that the masses were too simple to
understand artistic literature, though he seemed to realize that only proletarian and
peasant writers could write truly o5:ective literature a5out their respective classes.
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8ith
his perspective in mind, the reader must view !ao "un/s shopeepers, farmers, and
merchants with caution, remem5ering that their portrayal is a product of the author/s
middle(class 5acground.
!ao "un/s representation of women is another factor that stymies his realism. As
a communist, he undou5tedly felt that women should play an active role in the revolution,
and that society should allow them a greater degree of freedom. Bnfortunately, the
portrayal of women in his wor reflects a dichotomization of femininity, which prevents
his female characters from 5ecoming multifaceted, 1realistic3 characters.
Another aspect of !ao "un/s difficulty in producing realist wors is politics.
Although he vocally opposed authors who deli5erately used their writing to promote
communism, !ao "un/s use of current events may have 5een as influential as other
authors/ 5latantly pro(communist wors. The ways in which the author framed capitalism
and the 9uomindang are important to note. In 5oth The Lin Family Shop and 12pring
2ilworms,3 capitalism is a system in which the disadvantaged get poorer regardless of
effort and .ationalists are always villains or accomplices. The Lin Family Shop shows
9uomindang soldiers as corrupt, and in 12pring 2ilworms3, old Tong Bao demonstrates
a lac of confidence in 9uomindang policy0
He had heard those young propaganda speechmaers the 9uomindang
sent when he went into the maret town. Though they cried QThrow out
the foreign devils,/ they were dressed in 8estern(style clothing. His guess
was that they were secretly in league with the foreign devils, that they had
5een purposely sent to delude the countryfolR
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?ie Tolstoy and numerous Chinese 1.ew ?iterature3 authors, !ao "un was on a
mission. He was a reactionary, and through his portrayal of ordinary Chinese citizens, he
strove to create a revolutionary awareness, moving his readers to action.
Overall, history remem5ers !ao "un as a writer who conscientiously portrayed
the Chinese reality of the <evolutionary +ra. His ideological 5attles with so(called
1social realists3 resulted in his expulsion from the Chinese Communist Carty, as well as
personal and professional alienation. However, despite !ao "un/s sacrifices and his
no5le intentions, his realism fell short of its goal. Issues over which !ao "un had no
controlInamely his social, cultural, and literary 5acgroundIwere daunting o5stacles,
which, though addressed in his wor, ultimately overpowered the author. 8hile readers
may still loo to !ao "un/s wors to gain perspective on Chinese society, they must
eep in mind that they are primarily reading his version of reality.
,%
Chan, 1<ealism or 2ocialist <ealism73 G%.
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!ao, The Shop o# the Lin Family and Spring Sil6worms, $G$.
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