The Power of Weakness: Four Stories of the Chinese Revolution (Two By Two) - Softcover

Ling, Ding; Hsun, Lu

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1558615482 ISBN 13: 9781558615489

Publisher: The Feminist Press at CUNY, 2007

Synopsis

The Power of Weakness juxtaposes stories by Lu Hsun, revered as “the most important figure in twentieth-century Chinese letters,” and Ding Ling, his successor in writing in a realistic style about life in modern China.

Six works of astringent social commentary locate moments of conflict when tradition and notions of social conformity are in flux. In his speech “What Happens After Nora Leaves Home?” (a reference to Ibsen) and his short stories “New Year’s Sacrifice” and “Regret for the Past,” Lu Hsun exposes how the anti-Confucian nationalist movement of the 1920s liberated women’s thoughts and expanded their expectations only to leave them stranded by outmoded customs and financial dependency. Ding Ling, reacting to the clash between the nationalist and communist movements dating from the late 1920s, moves on from Lu Hsun’s sentiments in her feminist speech “Thoughts on March 8 (Women’s Day)” and in her more hopeful short stories “New Faith” and “When I Was in Xia Village.”

Named the “commander of China’s cultural revolution” by Mao Zedong, Lu Hsun (1881–1936) is one of the most influential writers of the twentieth century.

Ding Ling (1904–1985) was one of modern China’s most famous writers and cultural revolutionaries.

About this title

About the Author

Ding Líng was the pseudonym of Jiang Bingzhi (October 12, 1904 - March 4, 1986), a contemporary Chinese author from Linli, Hunan province. She is most noted for Miss Sophie's Diary, published in 1927, and later her Communist literature, including The Sun Shines Over the Sanggan River, which won the Stalin Prize for literature in 1951.

Hailed by Mao Zedong as the source of modern Chinese revolutionary literature, Lu Hsün or Lu Xun (September 25, 1881 - October 19, 1936), the pen name of Zhou Shuren, is considered one of the most influential Chinese writers of the 20th century. His literary works enriched every modern genre, except the novel, and influenced the rise of Chinese nationalism.

Tani E. Barlow is the Director for the Project for Critical Asian Studies and Professor of History and Women's Studies at the University of Washington, Seattle. Her most recent book is The Question of Women in Chinese Feminism. She has also edited an anthology entitled I Myself Am Woman: Selected Writings of Ding Ling.

Edition details

• Publisher: The Feminist Press at CUNY
• Publication date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1558615482
• ISBN 13: 9781558615489
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 96