Capturing Chinese — modern chinese stories

A Comedy of Ducks  is an easy and short story to read.   For an introduction to Lu Xun, then follow this link to An Introduction to Lu Xun.  

A Comedy of Ducks

鸭的喜剧

Yā de Xǐjù

鸭的喜剧 was published in December 1922 in The Lady's Magazine (妇女杂志 Fùnǚ Zázhì). The story recalls the events of Lǔ Xùn's guest from Russia, Vasily Eroshenko, living with Lǔ Xùn's eldest younger brother, Zhōu Zùorén (also known as Zhòngmì), from 1922-1923.  Since the Russian poet was blind, he relied heavily on his hearing for enjoyment.  He spoke Russian, English, Japanese and was a master in the one world language, Esperanto.  While he could not see, he got great satisfaction from hearing the different sounds around him which led him to buying a few animals for the Zhōu household.  He was also an advocate of self-sufficiency, suggesting to have a garden and raise farm animals. Reminiscing over his time spent in Burma, he complains Běijīng is too quiet with no animals about creating noise.  Upon hearing from Lǔ Xùn that frogs are aplenty after a heavy rain, he goes out to buy tadpoles which he raises in a small pond.  Next, a few chicks appear, coming from Zhòngmì's room.  The chicks gorge themselves on the courtyard lawn, but tend to eat too much and die frequently.  Vasily Eroshenko actually wrote his only short story while in Běijīng about this called, The Tragedy of a Chick. A lady selling ducklings comes by and Eroshenko is thrilled with the little animals and buys four of them.  They quack about the compound, eat up the tadpoles from the pond, and slowly grow to maturity.  By the time the ducklings are full grown, Eroshenko is already off to a conference on Esperanto in Finland.  Lǔ Xùn not knowing his friend is going to return soon afterward writes this short story in his honor.  Lǔ Xùn's title for this story, A Comedy of Ducks (鸭的喜剧), contrasts with Eroshenko's work, The Tragedy of  Chick (鸡的悲剧)，which Lǔ Xùn had helped translate from Japanese into Chinese. A Comedy of Ducks 鸭的喜剧 Would you like to read this Chinese short story with pinyin, footnotes with definitions, historical summaries, and cultural references, as well as Chinese audio files of two native speakers, one male and one female, reading the story? Get your copy of Capturing Chinese today! See the Capturing Chinese Catalog [wp_eStore_free_download_ajax_fancy id=22]

The White Light describes the life of a failed scholar.  The story is similar to Kong Yiji.  The main character is basically a nuisance to the family and continually searches for lost family gold.  For an introduction to Lu Xun, then follow this link to An Introduction to Lu Xun.  Otherwise keep reading for a longer introduction to The White Light.  

The White Light

白光

Bái Guāng

白光  was published in July of 1922 in Shanghai's Eastern Magazine (东方杂志, Dōngfāng Zázhì). 白光 begins with Chén Shìchéng (陈士成) staring at a list of names of candidates who successfully passed the district examination.  After his sixteenth failure, Chén Shìchéng is understandably distraught.  He drifts back home and sulks in disbelief.  The other families in the same compound return to their rooms early recognizing the look on Chén Shìchéng's face. Chén Shìchéng turns his disappointment into a search for a mythical buried treasure.  Previous excavation attempts illustrate the frequent disappointments he has had over the years.  A white light from the moon begins to shine onto his desk which he takes as a sign of the buried treasure's location.  He begins digging and digging only to unveil an old jaw bone. A voice in his head tells him the treasure is not in this room, but is actually in the distant mountains.  He rushes out through the city gates into the night only to wash up dead in a lake the next morning. This story is based on one of Lǔ Xùn's uncles, Zhōu Zǐjīng (周子京) who lived in the family compound in Shàoxīng (绍兴城) and helped teach Lǔ Xùn the classics in Lǔ Xùn's younger years.  He spent years studying for the civil service exam, yet repeatedly failed to pass.  He was something of a nuisance in the family compound and did not contribute much except to teach the children the classics. Lǔ Xùn's uncle and Chén Shìchéng highlight one of the flaws in the civil service exam in feudal China.  While the system prepared people very well in the classics of China, it also produced many people who never passed the exams, but yet had spent years and years in preparation.  After their failure they lacked any other skills to support themselves and their families.  Lǔ Xùn's uncle eventually committed suicide by lighting himself on fire and jumping off a bridge into the water below.  He died a few days later. The White Light 白光

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Dragonboat Holiday or Dragonboat Festival is a traditional Chinese holiday falling on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month.  It is also called Double Fifth.  The story is another story that closely follows Lu Xun's own life.  For an introduction to Lu Xun, then follow this link to An Introduction to Lu Xun.  Otherwise keep reading for a longer introduction to Dragonboat Holiday.

Dragonboat Holiday

端午节

Duānwǔjié

端午节 was first published in September 1922 in Fiction Monthly (小说月报 Xiǎoshuō Yuèbào). After the establishment of the Republic, life did not change very much at first.  The overthrow of the Qing dynasty resulted in a Republic dominated by a military man, Yuán Shìkǎi (袁世凯), who did little to benefit the common people and improve government.  In the story, the main character chooses the pet phrase, “差不多”meaning "not much different."  Given the historical context of the times, one can understand why he would feel this way.  While the name of China changed, nothing much else did, causing Lǔ Xùn (known as Fāng Xuánchuò (方玄绰) in the story) to become disillusioned with the revolution and much else in life. 端午节 is Dragonboat Holiday in China and is a typical time to get paid and also to repay debts.  The story is about the main character, Fāng Xuánchuò, not getting paid for his teaching position or his government position and what he does about it (not much).  Basically his philosophy is to not do anything because everything will have the same result anyways. His family has to borrow from friends and relatives to make ends meet.  After a mass demonstration, in which Fāng Xuánchuò did not participate, the government finally issues back pay to the teachers and officials.  However, once the finance department has the checks to disperse, they refuse to issue to people like Fāng Xuánchuò who did not help in the protest.  Fāng Xuánchuò refuses to beg for his check which he believes he already rightly deserves.  Instead he goes to a good friend and asks for a temporary loan.  While his friend congratulates him on not capitulating to the finance department's demands, he quickly becomes incensed when he finds Fāng Xuánchuò is visiting only to ask for a loan.  Fāng Xuánchuò can't really blame his friend because he remembers doing the same thing.  When he was still getting paid, someone came to ask him for a loan.  Instead of helping out, Fāng Xuánchuò pretended he had no money to spare. The backdrop of this story is based on actual events.  The government did stop paying their workers, which escalated into a mass demonstration demanding back pay.  On June 3rd, 1921 at Xīnhuámén (新华门), at the gate outside the government offices at Zhōngnánhǎi (中南海), 10,000 teachers and students took to the streets of Běijīng to demand their back pay before classes could resume.  Several people were hurt, and the government eventually resumed pay for the teachers and government officials. Dragonboat Festival 端午节

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