This book opens up three new topics in modern Chinese literary history: the intimate lives of modern China's most famous literary couple, Lu Xun and Xu Guangping; real and imagined love-letters in modern Chinese literature; and the contents, functions, and values of privacy held by one couple in twentieth-century China as shown by a comparison between the edited and unedited versions of their letters.
Author(s): Bonnie S. McDougall
Year: 2002
Language: English
Pages: 320
Title Page......Page 4
Contents......Page 8
Abbreviations......Page 14
Acknowledgements......Page 10
Dramatis Personae......Page 12
Letters as a Literary Genre......Page 16
Privacy......Page 17
Letters and Privacy......Page 18
Structure......Page 19
Sources......Page 20
Part I: Intimate Lives......Page 26
2: Xu Guangping ‘in the Front Row’: 1898–1925......Page 28
3: Lu Xun’s ‘Life without Love’: 1881–1925......Page 33
4: Courtship: March 1925–August 1926......Page 43
5: Separation: September 1926–January 1927......Page 60
6: Living Together: January 1927–June 1929......Page 70
7: Birth and Death: 1929–68......Page 79
Part II: Real and Imagined Letters......Page 96
8: Traditional Chinese and Western Letters......Page 98
9: Modern Chinese Letters and Epistolary Fiction......Page 105
10: The Making of Letters between Two......Page 109
The Origins of Letters between Two......Page 110
Compiling Letters between Two......Page 111
Editing Letters between Two......Page 112
The Preface to Letters between Two......Page 114
Printing and Publishing......Page 116
Frequency......Page 118
Appearance......Page 120
Forms of address......Page 121
Summary......Page 126
The Letters Themselves......Page 127
Courtship......Page 131
Exchanging Views......Page 134
Philosophy of Life......Page 145
The Uses of Love-Letters......Page 147
Summary......Page 148
Part III: Searching for Privacy......Page 150
13: Mapping Personal Space......Page 152
Initial Attraction......Page 156
Irregular Unions......Page 157
Age and Gender Reversal......Page 158
Hitting and Being Hit......Page 159
Love Tokens......Page 160
Pain at Separation......Page 161
Cohabitation......Page 163
Reflections on the Future......Page 164
Summary......Page 165
15: Bodies, Bodily Functions and Activities, and Hygiene......Page 167
Bathing and Personal Hygiene......Page 168
Excretion......Page 169
General Health and Appearance......Page 170
Drinking......Page 171
Summary......Page 172
16: Domestic Life and Habits......Page 173
Summary......Page 174
Xu Guangping on her Relations, 1925–6......Page 175
Xu Guangping on Lu Xun’s Family, 1925–6......Page 176
Lu Xun on his Family, 1926......Page 177
Lu Xun’s Family in 1929......Page 178
Summary......Page 179
Lu Xun and Sun Fuyuan, 1925–6......Page 180
From Friend to Enemy......Page 181
Summary......Page 185
Xu Guangping’s Political Views in 1925......Page 186
Lu Xun on Worthy Causes, 1925......Page 187
Lu Xun in Amoy......Page 188
Xu Guangping in Canton......Page 189
Summary......Page 190
Lu Xun’s Emotional Prudery......Page 191
Lu Xun’s Future Path......Page 192
Mutual Praise and Criticism......Page 193
Self-Analysis and Self-Criticism......Page 194
Language and Style......Page 195
Summary......Page 196
21: Rumour and Gossip......Page 197
Dawning Awareness, 1925......Page 198
Mounting Anger, 1926......Page 199
Summary......Page 200
Secrets and Secrecy......Page 202
Solitude and Seclusion......Page 205
Private/Selfish Interests......Page 207
Summary......Page 209
Contents......Page 210
Mechanisms......Page 211
Values......Page 215
Conceptualization......Page 216
Summary......Page 218
Part IV: Conclusion......Page 220
24: Revealing to Conceal: Letters between Two and the Original Correspondence......Page 222
Notes......Page 225
References......Page 294
Index......Page 314
