Hwang Chun-ming: also for literature, Taiwan is not a part of China.

Hwang-Chun-mingHwang Chun-ming is one of the most famous Taiwanese writers. Born in Taiwan, attached to the island, to the ordinary people, the language and the culture, he is one of those who have supported the search of their roots.

The collection of short stories “I love Mary ” which has just been published (1) in a French translation, is an expression of his talent. It is uncommon, after a few months, to remember all the … Lire la suite

Murong Xuecun: a cynical novel by a corrupt lawyer.

Murong XuecunMurong Xuecun is not yet forty years old. He is one of the brightest writers of a generation which is now being translated.These writers, like Han Han and Annie Baobei, are born with the internet. Three years ago, I regretted the small number of translations of this young generation, therefore we can welcome the release of “Dancing in the red dust”, translated by Claude Payen who is also the translator of “Leave me alone: a … Lire la suite

A meeting with Liu Zhenyun: famine and loneliness

sam_0480_convertedZhenyun Liu is one of China’s best-known writers; many awards for his novels, a great success for the many films based on them. He was in Paris a few days ago to present two of his books: ” Remember 1942 ,” an essay on the famine in Henan Province and a novel: ” A word is worth a thousand words“, a text on communication and loneliness, which was awarded the main literary prize in … Lire la suite

The cult writer Wang Xiaobo: sex as resistance to oppression

Bertrand Mialaret | Mychinesebooks.com

WANG_X~1Wang Xiaobo, who died in 1997, is a cult writer in China, especially among students. Sites, and forums are devoted to him and the anniversary of his death is the occasion of numerous commemorations.This is why the release in France of his novel “Future World”(1) is an important event, especially as his most famous work ” The Golden Age ” is very difficult to find in French (2).

Three holes in Lire la suite

Au musée Cernuschi à Paris, expo impériale pour les bronzes chinois.

oiseau_detailLe Musée Cernuschi à Paris présente actuellement une remarquable exposition de bronzes de la Chine impériale, des empereurs Song (960-1279) à la dernière dynastie des Qing.

Paradoxalement, ces pièces sont moins bien connues que les bronzes antiques car considérées comme tardives et imitant les modèles anciens ; le Musée Cernuschi avec plus de mille pièces en possède l’une des plus grandes collections au monde.

Ces objets sont certes moins spectaculaires que les bronzes de la … Lire la suite

Geling Yan and Ha Jin, the memory of the Nanjing massacre reappear with their novels.

9782081273115The Nanjing massacre and the 300,000 victims are one of the most tragic episodes in the history of the 20th century. It is rarely mentioned in Europe while the atrocities committed by the Japanese army during the storming of the former Chinese capital in December 1937 continue to poison relations between China and Japan.
Many films but few novels, apart from the book by Ye Zhaoyan, were devoted to this drama . But two

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In Tibet, the bloody conflicts between Christ and Buddha.

A book and an exhibition centered on the bloody conflict between Christ and Buddha at the border of China Yunnan and Tibet. Two simultaneous but unrelated events.The release last April of a novel by Fan Wen, “A Land of Milk and Honey” and a current exhibition, “Missions of the roof of the world”, with the Foreign Missions in Paris. Fan Wen speaks only Chinese and the Fathers of the Foreign Missions have not read his … Lire la suite

Qiu Xiaolong: from Inspector Chen to short stories.

We have often spoken of  Inspector Chen Cao, the hero of eight detective stories by the Sino-American writer Qiu Xiaolong.

While in Paris before joining in Lyon the international festival “Quai du Polar” he could talk about the “Short stories of Red Dust” (Liana Levi, 2013) (1), the second collection which has just been published.

The City of Red Dust is part of the former French Concession and is a group of traditional houses of … Lire la suite

After the controversy over the Nobel and Mo Yan, why not read his books?

The award of the Nobel Prize for Literature to the Chinese writer Mo Yan led to an intense debate in the media, both in China and abroad.

Some have strongly regretted that a Communist Party member, vice-president of the Writers’ Union, is awarded the prize, others that Mo Yan is not a radical critique of the Chinese regime or an unreserved supporter of the dissidents.

Some articles even show that the methods of the Maoist … Lire la suite

Shen Congwen, a writer once banned in China and Taiwan.

Shen Congwen is one of the greatest Chinese writers of the pre-war period. Hence the importance of the recent release in France of “The Journey to Xiang and other short stories”(1) that illustrates the talent of the writer in various styles.

His life and career are totally atypical. His family is a blend of the dominant Han population and the Miao and Tujia minorities in the beautiful region of south-central China, Hunan. He enlisted in … Lire la suite

Mo Yan: short stories by a Nobel prize.

When we speak of Mo Yan we specially mention his novels, his “long” novels which sometimes  and wrongly scare away some readers. But he wrote more than a hundred short stories and many “short” novels and novellas. As he mentions in his foreword to “Shifu …”, a collection of short stories published in the United States: “the stature of a writer can only be determined by the thought revealed in a work, not by its … Lire la suite

Yan Lianke and “The Four books”, a novel on totalitarian madness.

The end of the holiday period provides us with a major book from a Chinese novelist whom we had the pleasure to interview twice: Yan Lianke.

We remember for sure “Serve the People”, the “Dream of Ding Village”, “The Joy of living” published in 2009, and a beautiful text, “The Days, the months, the years”.

In “The Four Books”, he recalls the Great Leap Forward, the disastrous economic reforms imposed by Mao Zedong from 1958 … Lire la suite

Qiu Xiaolong and “Cyber China”, internet and corruption in China.

Qiu Xiaolong, a Shanghai writer who emigrated to the USA, has published during many years detective novels which are enthralling and detailed analysis of the social and political developments in modern China. During his recent visit to Paris, we were able to ask a few questions concerning his latest book, “Cyber China”.

In this novel, Zhou Keng, Director of the Planning Commission of Shanghai, committed suicide in a famous hotel, Villa Moller.

Chen Cao, our … Lire la suite