Kristin Stapleton

Fact in Fiction

1920s China and Ba Jin's Family

• Gebundenes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

Kristin Stapleton is Associate Professor of History at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York. She is also the author of Civilizing Chengdu: Chinese Urban Reform, 1895¿1937 (2000) and a member of the National Committee on United States¿China Relations.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Stanford University Press
• Seitenzahl: 296
• Erscheinungstermin: 17. August 2016
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 231mm x 155mm x 23mm
• Gewicht: 499g
• ISBN-13: 9780804798693
• ISBN-10: 0804798699
• Artikelnr.: 45000609

Autorenporträt

Kristin Stapleton is Associate Professor of History at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York. She is also the author of Civilizing Chengdu: Chinese Urban Reform, 1895-1937 (2000) and a member of the National Committee on United States-China Relations.

Inhaltsangabe

Contents and Abstracts
Introduction: Ba Jin's Fiction and Twentieth-Century Chinese History
chapter abstract
The introduction outlines the book's goals: to use Ba Jin's Turbulent
Stream trilogy-especially the first novel, Family-as a springboard to
analysis of social change in a West China city during the May Fourth era
and to take a critical look at Ba Jin's interpretations of the society and
world in which he grew up. Included is a biographical sketch of Ba Jin, an
explanation of the significance of his fiction in shaping the conventional
narrative of the May Fourth era, and an overview of the major themes of
subsequent chapters: patriarchy and the "Confucian" family and the May
Fourth critiques of them, the physical transformations that accompanied
urban reform in Chinese cities in the first decades of the twentieth
century, the nature of militarist politics in the 1910s through the 1930s,
and the effects of warfare and political insecurity on the city and the
families in it.
1Mingfeng: The Life of a Chinese Slave Girl
chapter abstract
This chapter analyzes the social status of slave girls in early
twentieth-century China based on archival evidence from Chengdu, among
other sources. It demonstrates that, although late-Qing legal reforms
attempted to abolish the status, slave girls continued to be bought and
sold throughout the 1920s and 1930s. A local example of a slave girl
contract is examined. This chapter includes a discussion of how slave girls
experienced the city as they were brought from their villages and
introduced into the households of the wealthy. The challenge of
understanding the worldview of slave girls, given the limitations of
historical sources, is raised in conjunction with an evaluation of Ba Jin's
depiction of Mingfeng, a central character in Family. It ends with an
assessment of the social movement to abolish slave girl status in the first
half of the twentieth century and a discussion of the reasons for its
failure.
2The Patriarch: Chengdu's Gentry
chapter abstract
This chapter focuses on the social world of Chengdu's elite men. The
sources of elite status and the impact on elites of political events
surrounding the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1911 are both discussed. The
chapter describes the walled compounds within which Chengdu's wealthy
extended families lived with their servants, as well as the teahouses and
other more public venues where the men met their friends and patronized the
arts. The chapter presents evidence that Chengdu's gentry accepted many
influences from abroad, including Western medical knowledge, while most
remained committed to classical Chinese learning and the family rituals
that Ba Jin condemned in Turbulent Stream. In addition to many other
sources on elite Chengdu life, the chapter draws on numerous sources on
elite Chengdu life, including the diary of Wu Yu, a prominent May Fourth
critic of neo-Confucianism who lived most of his life in Chengdu.
3Juexin's City: The Chengdu Economy
chapter abstract
This chapter assesses the state of the economy of Sichuan and Chengdu in
the early 1920s, showing how political instability in the decade after the
collapse of the Qing led to concentration of land in the hands of
militarists, a rise in opium production, and a lack of investment in
industry. Nevertheless, the city was a productive place and employed
thousands of workers in various trades. The economic condition of such
laborers is assessed with the help of sociological data collected at the
time. With the backing of militarists who controlled the city, a few
substantial development projects were launched, including a commercial
street modeled on Shanghai's Nanjing Road. The chapter discusses the
position that Ba Jin's eldest brother (the model for Turbulent Stream's Gao
Juexin) held in Chengdu's commercial arcade and emphasizes the role that
family ties played in the Chengdu economy.
4Sedan-Chair Bearers, Beggars, Actors, and Prostitutes: The Worlds of the
Urban Poor
chapter abstract
This chapter discusses the images of poor people Ba Jin presents in
Turbulent Stream and then explores how poverty was understood and explained
in early twentieth-century China. In Chengdu, the late-Qing period saw the
establishment of new state-run institutions within which the poor were
disciplined. In the political turbulence of the early Republic, these
institutions declined and philanthropy came under the management of
prominent gentry. The chapter also assesses what can be learned about the
lives of the poor in Chengdu during the May Fourth period, including the
housing available to them, the prevalence of disease, and opportunities for
mobility. Turbulent Stream includes subplots involving prostitutes and
actors, and this chapter discusses their status in 1920s Chengdu in
comparison with conditions in Shanghai, which have been studied more
extensively.
5Students, Soldiers, and Warlords: Protest and Warfare in the City
chapter abstract
This chapter surveys the history of warfare in Chengdu and the attitudes of
warlords toward student activism. Ba Jin lived through several battles in
the city, and his experiences are reflected in Family. This chapter
explains why control over the city was disputed so frequently in the 1910s
and 1920s and describes the most significant impacts of instability.
Several of the key militarist commanders in Chengdu are profiled, and their
roles in encouraging or suppressing social and cultural change during the
May Fourth era are assessed. Because they wanted to recruit educated young
supporters, most of them presented themselves as progressive, something Ba
Jin's fiction only hints at. The chapter ends with reflections on the lives
of common soldiers via a critical discussion of a fictional diary of a
Chengdu conscript that was published in the magazine Eastern Miscellany
(Dongfang zazhi) in the 1920s.
6Qin: Chengdu and the "New Woman"
chapter abstract
This chapter discusses women's education and roles in 1920s Chengdu, with
insights from scholarship that challenges the May Fourth image of the
"traditional woman." The debates over women's status in eastern-based
periodicals were known in Chengdu, and a few women-including Ba Jin's
contemporary Hu Lanqi-resisted arranged marriages and sought new employment
opportunities. But most women would have found it very difficult to
establish autonomy in 1920s Chengdu, given the lack of economic development
and the frequent warfare. Political instability led to the rise of the
Gowned Brothers, a semi-secret organization that offered some security in
Chengdu's neighborhoods. Gowned Brother lodges tended to be culturally
conservative, leading them to intimidate elite women who ventured into
public life. This chapter examines the case of Cihai editor Shu Xincheng, a
visiting instructor in Chengdu who was accused of corrupting girl students.
7Juehui: Revolution, Reform, and Development in Chengdu
chapter abstract
This chapter examines revolutionary and reformist currents during the May
Fourth period. It discusses how Chengdu people learned about and reacted to
the May Fourth incident. Ba Jin's early introduction to anarchism is
explored before the chapter turns to the history of Nationalist and
Communist recruitment in Chengdu. Sichuan natives at the center of the
Nationalist and Communist movements-Zhang Qun, Dai Jitao, and Wu
Yuzhang-were sent to Chengdu to build those parties, but had little
success. The chapter discusses the appeal of the Chinese Youth Party within
Sichuan, but argues that party politics were less significant than in
eastern China. Nevertheless, reformist trends were introduced to Chengdu,
including the literacy movement launched by Yan Yangchu. The promise of
urban planning to bring economic development appealed to some of Chengdu's
militarists, and it was promoted by activists such as Lu Zuofu, who later
founded the Minsheng Industrial Company.
Epilogue: Family and City in China's Twentieth-Century Revolutions
chapter abstract
The epilogue sums up the central argument of the book that the attack on
the patriarchal family that features so prominently in Ba Jin's Turbulent
Stream trilogy and in narratives of the May Fourth/New Culture movement,
while important, was not central to the lived experiences of most people in
Chengdu in the 1920s. Political instability and warfare shaped people's
lives by depressing the economy and opening a space for a powerful
conservative movement, as well as for more radical ideas. Among social
activists, however, urban development was viewed as a more promising route
to a more progressive future than trying to change well-established social
patterns. The epilogue also reflects on the decline of interest in urban
development in the Mao years after 1949 and the revival of this theme in
the years after his death.