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

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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

… Lire la suite

In Tibet, the bloody conflicts between Christ and Buddha.

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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.

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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?

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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

Mo Yan: short stories by a Nobel prize.

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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.

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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

In the Guimet museum, “Scholar rocks”, at the hart of Chinese culture.

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You can visit until June 25, at the Guimet Museum in Paris, a beautiful exhibition on Chinese scholars, “scholar rocks” and the objects which make up their “treasures”.

Unlike in the West, stones more than plants play a vital role in Chinese gardens. The rugged and monumental rocks, as from the seventh century, will begin to enter the studios of scholars in a reduced size and installed on pedestals of precious wood.

The vogue of … Lire la suite

Anne Cheng: Confucius reassessed, a Chinese export product.

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Since 2008, Anne Cheng, a former student of the Ecole Normale Supérieure, leads in the Collège de France her research and teaching activities on the intellectual history of China, after having carried them under the CNRS and the National Institute of Oriental Languages ​​and Civilizations (INALCO).

Her translation of ” The Analects” of Confucius and her “Histoire de la pensée chinoise” have become classics. She was kind enough to analyse current events … Lire la suite

Su Tong settles scores with people living on the banks of the river.

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The Chinese writer Su Tong is one of the favorites of the public, both in China and the West since the success of the film “Raise the Red Lantern” (1991), adapted from one of his novels.

Nine books translated into French and success also with the Man Asia prize in 2009 for ” The Bank of the River” (1) (previously translated into English as “The Boat to Redemption”).The many talents of the author are also … Lire la suite

Bi Feiyu, a Chinese writer in the world of the blind.

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The Chinese novelist Bi Feiyu has been awarded in recent months the two most prestigious literary awards in Asia and particularly the Mao Dun prize, the Chinese “Goncourt”. In Paris for a few days, on the occasion of the release of his latest novel “The Blind” (1), we were able to meet him: a bon vivant, a good craftsman, happy in today’s China.

A reputation that is growing rapidly:

 

Well supported by his French … Lire la suite

Ha Jin, how a major Chinese writer became an American.

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As an immigrant or an exile, how do you fit in a new country, how can you survive, how does one live with a new language, new environment, values and references that are foreign. “A free life” (1), now translated into French, the novel, largely autobiographical, by the great Chinese writer Ha Jin, who became an American citizen, handles these issues with intelligence and emotion.

Immigrant or exile:

 

Born into a family in … Lire la suite

Mo Yan, “Frogs” and birth control policy.

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Mo Yan is probably the greatest living writer of Chinese nationality. His latest novel, “Frogs”, is devoted to his aunt ,77 years old, who helped his birth – like 9983 other babies – and, half angel, half-demon, was also responsible for the local birth control policy. As such, she has performed thousands of abortions.

This novel, published in China in 2009, has led to many debates at a time when birth control is discussed openly … Lire la suite

Two writers, Shahnon Ahmad and Su Tong, one topic: Rice.

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Rice is the first global cereal for human consumption. This crop has shaped the landscape of plains, carved the mountains and deeply influenced the civilizations that developed around the rice fields, particularly in Asia.

This is why the new edition of the novel by the Malaysian writer Shahnon Ahmad, “Rice”, was an opportunity to read again this beautiful text with in perspective a novel with the same title, “Rice”, by the Chinese writer Su Tong… Lire la suite