Family (Ba Jin novel)
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Family (Jia 《家》) is a novel by the Chinese author Ba Jin about the life of a fictional upper-class family in the Chinese city of Chengdu in the 1930s.
Contents |
[edit] History
Family was published in 1931. Together with two additional novels Ba Jin wrote in the period 1939-40, Spring and Autumn, it forms a trilogy, Turbulent Stream. [1]
[edit] Subject Matter and Themes
The subject matter of the novel is broadly autobiographical: "The first nineteen years of Pa Chin's life were spent, with a short interruption, in the large family mansion in Chengtu, a household consisting of fifty Li family members and their forty-five servants, ruled autocratically by his grandfather . . . . this family, which he called 'a despotic kingdom.'" [2]
Ba Jin said "I myself am not in the novel," though he expressed affection for one of the protagonists, Chueh-hui. [3] The novel focuses on three brothers: Chueh-hui (the youngest), Chueh-min, and Chueh-hsin (the eldest).
A theme in the novel is the separation imposed by physical and social structures: the walls and gates of mansions[4], the "masks" worn by their inhabitants[5], the (false) surface appearance of peace and affection [6].
"Contradition" is a related theme[7].
The author explores the theme of generational conflict and contradiction: "Cheh-hui gazed at his grandfather . . . . It seemed to him that the person lying in the cane reclining chair was not his grandfather but the representative of an entire generation. He knew that the old man and he -- the representative of the grandson's generation -- could never see eye to eye"[8].
The author also identifies a conflict between external structures (physical and social) and self: "You can lock up a person physically, but you cannot imprison his heart.[9]"
An important theme is the challenges faced by women, whether the rich Chin, who wants to be allowed to attend school, or the servant Ming-feng, who is essentially a slave in the mansion. [10]
[edit] Historical Significance
[edit] Comparative Perspective
Family references books that influenced many Chinese authors of that generation, particularly:
A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen [11], about the fate of a woman trapped in the physical and social structures of her marriage/family.
Family can be read as an update on Dream of the Red Chamber, the great classical Chinese novel about the life of a great family living within a great mansion.
[edit] English Translations
Family was published by Foreign Languages Press (Beijing) in an English translation by Sidney Shapiro in 1958.
Anchor Books (NY) published an edition based on the Sidney Shapiro translation in 1972 under the English title Rickshaw Boy ("by Lau Shaw").
[edit] Other Adaptations and Related Works
A play and two films were based on Family.[12]
[edit] Notes
- ^ Anchor edition., Introduction, p. xix.
- ^ Anchor edition., Introduction, p. x.
- ^ Anchor edition., Author's Preface to the Fifth Edition, p. 7.
- ^ Anchor edition., p. 12.
- ^ Anchor edition., p. 26.
- ^ Anchor edition., p. 41.
- ^ Anchor edition., Introduction, p. 70.
- ^ Anchor edition., p. 67.
- ^ Anchor edition., p. 70.
- ^ Anchor edition., p. 25.
- ^ Anchor edition., p. 34.
- ^ Anchor edition., Introduction, p. xxiii.
