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The Field of Life and Death
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Wikipedia article
'The Field of Life and Death' (simplified Chinese: ; traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: Shng s chng) is a modern Chinese novel written by Xiao Hong, first published in complete form in 1935. Along with 'Tales of Hulan River', it is generally regarded as one of Xiao Hong's most successful works.Idema and Haft, 276. Lau and Goldblatt, xxxvii.
Set in a village near the city of Harbin, the novel examines the difficulties of peasant life during the 1920s and early 1930s, and in particular the suffering of women.Dooling, 432.Jortay, 1. The latter part of the novel also deals with life under occupation after the Japanese invasion of Manchuria.
Plot
The novel has no main protagonist or plotline, being comprised instead of loosely connected scenes of village life.
The novel begins by introducing Two-and-a-half Li and his wife, Old Mother Pockface , and son, Tunnel Legs .
A seventeen-year-old girl from the village, Golden Bough , has been secretly having sex with twenty-year-old Ch'eng-yeh . When she finds out, Golden Bough's mother is furious, having recently rejected a Ch'eng-yeh's appointed matchmaker. She becomes even more angry when Golden Bough tells her that she is pregnant.
Another villager, Chao San , has crippled a thief whom he mistook as a man from his landlord who threatened to damage his firewood in place of unpaid rent. In consequence, Chao San is jailed and forced to sell his ox to pay compensation. His son P'ing works as a shepherd and also later helps his newly freed father sell chicken cages in the city. The chicken cage business, however, quickly fails.
Second Sister Li suffers a miscarriage after a long and painful labor. Her husband is unsympathetic. Old Mother Pockface and Golden Bough both, however, give birth successfully.
After her son is killed by bandits, Mother Wang tries to commit suicide by poison. The villagers assume she will die, but she revives on the way to her burial.
Ch'eng-yeh becomes frustrated by his child's cries, and threatens to sell Golden Bough and the baby. In his anger, he kills the child.
Ten years pass. The Japanese have invaded, and soldiers search the town for rebels and take away young women. Zhao San is no longer as brave as he once was, but nevertheless is roused by Li Qingshan's anti-Japanese organizing. Two-and-a-half Li, however, remains unconcerned. Golden Bough, now widowed, goes into the city to look for work. She makes money repairing clothing, but is also expected to prostitute herself to her male customers. She returns to the village.
By the end of the novel, Old Mother Pockface has been killed by the Japanese, as has her son Tunnel Legs. P'ing has narrowly escaped capture, and Li Qingshan has given up his revolutionary zeal. Linghua and her grandmother, despairing at their situation, hang themselves.
Critical reception
Leading critics Lu Xun and Hu Feng championed the novel, writing a preface and afterword respectively.
Adaptations
Translations
An English translation by Howard Goldblatt and Ellen Yeung was published in 1979.
In theatre
A 1999 theatrical adaptation, written and directed by Tian Qinxin , won a number of awards.Ferrari, 94. Tian, 230.
References
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Notes
Category:1935 novels
Category:Novels by Xiao Hong
Category:Novels set in Heilongjiang
Category:Novels set in Manchukuo
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