“The Paris of Asia: The Contrasting view of Shanghai in Modernist Chinese Literature”

“The Paris of Asia: Shanghai in Modernist Chinese Literature”

During the 1920s to 1930s, China became a more modern country and society. Many people were moving from the rural parts of China to big cities for work and better opportunities. Shanghai was one of these cities. It was a booming, urban city in the 1930s, on the sea. People from not just all over China, but from all over the world came to Shanghai for business and pleasure. It was a cultural epicenter for business and the arts. Although it is described often as a busy, beautiful city, the culture of Shanghai clashed much with traditional Chinese culture and values. The modernist writings of Shi Zhicun and Mao Dun provide a much different portrayal of Shanghai that contrasts with the nickname the "Paris of Asia". 

In Shi Zhicun’s short story “One Evening in the Rainy Season”, the narrator describes a walk home in the rain on the busy streets of Shanghai. As he is walking in the rain he describes the landscape and architecture of Shanghai. In the story, he notices a woman exiting a bus and decides to walk her to wherever she is going while under his umbrella. The narrator thinks the young woman is his childhood girlfriend and begins having subconscious thoughts about her.  He begins to worry about what others on the street think of him and the young woman. As she leaves him to continue on with her walk, she tells him that she is not his past girlfriend. When the narrator arrives home, his wife greets him and asks where he has been. He responds that he had tea with a friend. Zhicun’s short story describes Shanghai physically and culturally. Zhicun describes the metropolis on the rainy day as

“The precise contours of people and traffic, coming and going in the misty drizzle, would all vanish, the broad avenues would reflect the numerous yellow lights, and now and again green and red traffic would glisten in the pedestrians’ eyes. When it rained hard, the sound of people talking nearby, even when it was loud, seemed to hang in the air (Zhicun, 126).”

Zhicun describes Shanghai as a busy city where the “wheels of cars do splatter mud” (Zhicun, 127) when they speed by the narrator in the rain. He describes the busy traffic and the people passing him on the street, and the how the sky is lit up from all the street lights. Each detail provides the audience with a picture in their head of the Shanghai he was viewing. Shanghai at this time was the “Paris of Asia” where people all over the world came to vacation, live, and do business.  While the narrator is at the bus stop he sees the foreign influence in Shanghai as people are exiting the first class compartment of the bus. The narrator notices a Russian woman, Japanese woman, and two people from Ningbo, followed by the young woman whom he thinks is from his past. None of the people were from Shanghai and had migrated there like many others. Most of the Chinese people were not in the first class car. One thing that the reader can notice is that the narrator is not describing Shanghai with beauty or fascination, but as dark, rainy, and gloomy. This imagery directly connects to the attitude of the narrator who seems less than excited about assimilating into the culture of Shanghai.  The narrator does not see Shanghai as the “Paris of Asia”, but as a big city where he is somehow trying to maintain individuality and independence. The narrator refuses to catch the bus when it’s raining and does not own a rain coat, even though his coworkers try to convince him to do so. The young woman he believes to be his childhood girlfriend, can be seen as symbol of his longing of his life before coming to Shanghai. He sees this young woman as beautiful and bright. He longs for her, yet she walks away on her own. This is in contrast to the face of his wife who can be seen as a symbol of his reality.  

                Mao Dun’s “Midnight” portrays Shanghai in a similar fashion. Shanghai is not described as this glorious city on the sea. It is more or less described as a place of vice and indulgence, not a place where dreams come true and people prosper. In the first section of “Midnight” we see the story or Mr. Wu, who is an older Chinese man who works as a reformist until he is paralyzed in an accident. While in Shanghai, the old man comes face to face with the vices of Shanghai. He holds on to his copy of the Supreme Scripture. Mr. Wu describes Shanghai as “the sinners’ paradise” (Dun, p 15) where “he was strong in his belief that he could keep himself morally intact” (Dun, p 15).   Mr. Wu does not describe Shanghai as a beautiful glorious place, but more of a dark place full of vice, Western influence, and far from the values of traditional China.  He describes the street lights as “a snake-like stream of black monsters, each with a pair of blinding lights for eyes, their horns blaring” (Dun, p 16). His sons fall into the vice and indulgence of Shanghai. When Mr. Wu sees young women barely clothed with dancing around him he suffers a stroke and later dies. Mr. Wu represents the traditional China that is no longer present in Shanghai. He could not handle the ideals of “New China” in Shanghai which was much different than that of traditional China. Just like the narrator in “One Evening in the Rainy Season”, Mr. Wu is holding on to something. He is holding on to historical heritage in this metropolis that make him an individual. He did not want to be like those in the city, including his sons, who have fallen into the new culture of Shanghai. Yet the traditional China and people like Mr. Wu are dying out in Shanghai, where this a new culture budding.  In the last paragraph of the story, Mr. Wu’s son compares him to China:

                “When he lived in the country he existed like a mummy. The country was his grave, in which he couldn’t decompose easily. In this modern city of Shanghai he was done. He’s gone, and good riddance. One mummy old China the less. Old China herself is a mummy five thousand years old, and she’s decomposing fast. She can’t weather the storm of this new age much longer,” (Dun, 31-32).

Shanghai was a bustling center of commerce and business in China and the world and still is in modern times. Often called the “Paris of Asia”, Shanghai was a multi-cultural epicenter. Yet many modernist writers in China did not see Shanghai as this beautiful city with streets paved in gold. Shi Zhicun and Mao Dun described a much different Shanghai. A Shanghai that separated itself from traditional Chinese values and where people assimilated into this new culture. A Shanghai that ran wild with vices and indulgences. A Shanghai that would decompose the old China. The narrator in “One Evening in the Rainy Season” and Mr. Wu in “Midnight” are battling to hold on to something. They were holding on to their individuality; their independence; their past. They are not interested in the new Shanghai and decided to hold on to their ways and individuality. But even these old ways disappear into the night or die under the pressure of city life in the "Paris of Asia".  

Sources:

Mao, Dun. Midnight. Peking: Foreign Languages, 1957. 9-32. Print. 

Zhicun, Shi. "One Evening in the Rainy Season." The Columbia Anthology of Modern Chinese Literature. By Howard Goldblatt. New York: Columbia UP, 2007. 126-35. Print.

Literary Analysis

"Diary of a Madman": A Call for Change

Chinese culture is one of the oldest cultures still prevalent today. The Chinese have been influencing language, trade, food, the arts, and other functions within cultures all over the world for years. Throughout their history, the Chinese have undergone a series of cultural shifts, yet it still remains a culture and people that exude traditional values and history even in the modern age of being an economic and world power. During one of China’s greatest political and culture shifts, the New Cultural Movement, the Chinese people rose up to abandon some traditional values and culture elements. During this movement writers were beginning to criticize traditional Chinese culture through their literary works. One of these authors is Lu Xun.  In his classical short story, “Diary of a Madman”, Xun provides a metaphorical literary criticism of one of the building blocks of Chinese culture and tradition: Confucianism.  Through the use of metaphor, first person point of view, and symbolism through character, Xun writes a thought evoking piece and criticism about the role of traditional ideals in Chinese society.

Lu Xun’s  “Diary of a Madman” is composed of diary entries from an unnamed character. The narrator records his activities in his village, where he seems to think everyone is a cannibal. He is more comfortable amongst moonlight and suffers paranoia. He constantly feels like the people in his village are giving him dirty looks, including the children. He eventually comes up with the idea that the people are cannibals and will soon eat away at him as they do everyone else. The narrator begins to speak with people about his thoughts, but he is constantly shut down. In one diary entry, the narrator has an illusion about a man and begins to talk to the illusion about the cannibalism. The illusion responds “Maybe they are, but it’s the way it’s always been” (37).   As the narrator goes on in his diary he begins to ponder the idea of cannibalism and how the tradition is being passed down from generation to generation. Finally he confronted Elder Brother about it, and he is laughed at by the masses and soon he carried away back to his chambers.  In his very last diary entry, he expresses a moment of hope that maybe there are children out there who do not practice the cannibalism and writes one last sentence , “Save the Children” (41). “Diary of a Madman” is a metaphor for Chinese society and traditions based off of the teachings of Confucius.  By connecting Confucian values to acts that are violent such as cannibalism, Xun evokes emotion from the audience. Though most know Confucius for his wise teaching of philosophy and humanism, throughout the years, his teachings formed a strict Chinese culture and traditions. And for thousands of years, these beliefs and traditions were passed down from generation to generation. It was their way of life. As the Chinese were continuing with this way of life, Xun believed that their culture and values were eating away at the Chinese people until soon there would be nothing left.Yet many of the people did not notice that their traditions are eating away them and their people and he reflects that in his character's diary entry. The narrator wrote “I just realized today that I too have muddled around for a good many years in a place where they’ve been continually eating people  for four thousand years” (41). The metaphor, provides enlightenment and is used to draw emotion from the Chinese people to provoke change before everyone eats away at each other. 

 Point of view is another vital element of this piece. The first person, diary point of view provides the reader with the ability to see the world from the “madman’s” eyes. The reader gets to understand his thoughts and perception towards the cannibalism. You are no longer from the outside looking in, but from the inside looking  out into the character’s mind. It makes you take the side of the narrator because you see what he sees and feel what he feels. At the beginning, the reader sees the narrator's paranoia, but as the diary develops you begin to understand and the narrators sense of enlightenment. You begin to understand why the narrator wants to bring an end the cannibalistic ways. The first person point of view not only asserts the narrators opinions and believes, but it expresses Xun’s thoughts and criticism. 

In “Diary of a Madman” symbolism is present everywhere. But one interesting literary concept Xun uses is presenting symbolism not just through objects, but within characters. The first use of symbolism using character can be found within the narrator himself. The narrator represents a new ideal that goes against tradition. When the narrator/new ideal presents himself the people laugh at him, resent him, and label him as a madman or crazy because he is going against tradition, something that is not accepted. The Elder Brother symbolizes the skepticism towards change. The narrator wrote

“I also realized that they didn’t all think the same. Some thought it’s always been like this and that they really should eat human flesh. Others knew they shouldn’t but went right on doing it anyway, always on the lookout for fear someone might give them away” (39).

The Elder Brother is one of those people and in order to save face, he continues to be a cannibal and labels his brother a madman. He doesn’t let the people hurt him, yet he does not defend him. Another character that is a symbol is the Venerable Old Man. The Venerable Old Man is wise, educated, and honorable. He represents the traditional Chinese man. He shuns new ideals, yet the narrator expresses that the Venerable Old Zhao seems to be afraid of him also (30). One could assert that the Venerable Old Zhao senses that they new ideal is a threat to him and his power over his followers.The last uses of symbolism within character are the children. The narrator seems to be more so fearful when the children stare at him than when the Venerable Old Zhao and others do so. He could not understand why children stare at him like that, but soon he understands “their mothers and fathers have taught them that” (30). This bothers him greatly. This is because children not only represent the future, but they represent hope. Seeing that the children act just like their parents, means that there is little or no hope of change in sight. If the future continues the same traditions that are eating people then there is no hope. At the very end of his diary, in his last entry, the narrator thinks back to the children with a small sense of hope and optimism“Maybe there are some children around who still haven’t eaten human flash. Save the children…” (41). 
Xun's "Diary of a Madman" is  thought provoking criticism and metaphor for Chinese tradition and culture. Using elements such as metaphor, point of view, and symbolism, Xun writes a classical piece of literature that reflects his opinions about Chinese traditions and the need for change. In a time where radical change was not accepted or acknowledged, many classical yet innovative Chinese thinkers worked to promote radical change. This push was made for the betterment of Chinese society and its people. Even after the New Cultural Revolution, the Chinese have not let their traditions go. Yet, there is balance between traditional Chinese culture and history and modern society. This balance has allowed China and her people to move into the future while still remaining proud of their history and tradition that helped lay the cornerstone for their nation.

Works Cited: Lu Xun, “Diary of a Madman,” William A. Lyell trans.,Diary of a Madman and Other Stories, University of Hawaii Press, 1990, 29-41.