Edgar Allan Poe in Contemporary China

Author(s): Ruijuan Hao

Source: The Edgar Allan Poe Review, Vol. 10, No. 3 (Winter 2009), pp. 117-122
Published by: Penn State University Press
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 HOP 117

Edgar Allan Poe in Contemporary China

Ruijuan Hao

EdgarAllan Poe's workswere firstintroducedto Chinese readersin 1903. The

pioneerwas Lu Xun (1881-1936), one of themostinfluential modernwritersin
twentieth-century China, who accidentallycame across a copy of Poe's "The
Gold Bug" while studyingmedicinein Japan. He and his brother, Zhou Zuoren
translateditintoChinese togetherwithanothershortstory,"Silence- A Fable,"
and latercollectedthemintoTalesfromAbroad publishedin 1909. Lu Xun was
particularlyfascinatedby thehorrifying effectPoe constructedin "The Black
Cat," recallingthat"it is indeed veryterrifying."1

Since then,Poe's popularityand his influenceon modernChineseliterature have

gone through three of
major stages ups and downs. In thefirstthreedecades of
thetwentieth century,manyChinesetranslators and scholarsengagedthemselves
in translatingand commentingactively on Poe's works in a free academic
atmosphere. China was in deep crisis at that time, sufferingfrominternal
economic and political deterioration,on the one hand, and externalinvasions
of colonial powers on theother. In orderto modernizeChina, themainstream
intellectualscalled forlearningfromtheWest and a totalrejectionof Chinese
traditionalculture. The statusof foreignfictionrose to a high level as it was
discovered to be a potentmeans to edifyand informthe general population
and sometimesrouse the nationto action. Some of Poe's workswere highly
admiredand imitatedfortheiringeniousnarrativestructure and thepsychological
impact on readers. Poe's humanistic touch of sadness and melancholywas
sharedby manyof theChinese writerswho struggledforsurvivalin the"long
and cold darkness."

Fromthe 1940s to the 1970s, due to theinfluenceof constantwarfareand later

the social and culturalreformsin the newly-foundedwhat would become the
People's Republic of China, Poe studiescame to a halt and receivedverylittle
attentionfromscholarsand readersalike. The nationalliteraturewas censored
by the"Marxist"guidelinethatservedfor"class struggle"and theCommunist
Party'spolitical propaganda. Poe's works were categorizedinto the "school
of decadence," fortheystrayedaway from"reality"and practicedan "art's for
art's sake" thatcorruptedpeople's moralityand consciousness.

This gloomysituationdid notend untilthe 1980s and the 1990s when manyof
Poe's workswere re-translatedand publishedby some of the most influential

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118 Poe in Contemporary China

state-ownedpresses. From thattime on, the acceptance and studyof Poe's

works enteredinto a brand-newera witha considerablequantityand quality
of academic papers and theses examiningall aspects of Poe's achievement.
ContemporaryChinese criticsare eager to seek various lyrical connections,
direct or indirect,between Poe and Chinese culture. They firststartwith
reassessingand rediscoveringtheinfluencesPoe on Lu Xun. There is no first-
hand statement fromLu Xun thathe imitatesPoe's writingtechniquesor directly
borrowsfromPoe's literaryworks; however,Chinese Poe criticsare keen to
studytheintertexuality and interplayof thetwo writersthattheybelieve have
been neglectedby past studies. For example, theintertexualreadingof Poe's
"The Tell-Tale Heart" and Lu Xun's "Diary of a Madman" standsout as one of
the areas thatfascinatestheyounggenerationof criticsin China.

"Diary of a Madman," writtenas a seriesofdiaryentries,was thefirstcolloquial

short story in modern Chinese literaturethat attacks the old Confucian
"cannibalistic" society. Contemporarycritics in China point out that both
stories are constructedthroughthe "first-person" narrativeof a madman or
a psychological freak. The fear,loneliness and melancholysufferedby the
fragmentedsubject are also cited as evidence of Lu Xun's directborrowingof
Poe's brilliantcreations. Lu Xun's madmancould neverget any sleep at night
and could nottellifitwere day or night.He feelslike it's pitchdarkall thetime
and always fearsthatthe "beams and rafters"are tremblingoverhead. Poe's
madmanis also hauntedday and night,"hearkeningto thedeathwatches"in the
wall. The mortalterrorwells up his bosom nightafternight,"deepening,with
itsdreadfulecho." The terrorof thesoul in thisdiscourseis exploredwithgreat
interestby contemporaryChinese criticsin orderto draw a directconnection
betweenPoe and Lu Xun.

This connectionextendsto China's obsession withhorrorand Poe's philosophy

of composition. The past few yearshave witnesseda phenomenalincrease of
horrorstoriesin variousmedia outlets,such as books, magazines,filmsand the
Internet.The German media giant Bertelsmanncelebrated2005 as "the year
of Chinese horrorstories." There are various writingawards every year to
motivatetheyounggenerationto participatein thenationalliterarymovement.
ContemporaryPoe criticsattributethese fruitfulachievementsto Poe's new
wave of influenceon Chinese literature.The tenmostpopularChinese writers
of horrorstoriesadmitin interviewsthattheyhave read Poe's shortstoriesand
consciously put Poe's composing philosophyinto practice. The construction
of "effect"in unityand the "horrorof the soul" have become the cornerstone

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 Ha o 119

of theChinese writingphilosophy. Poe's "artforart's sake" and his pursuitof

beautydominates.The thematicsubjectsand thenarrative techniquesarethetwo
mainareas thattheyounggenerationhas attemptedto imitate.Death, regarded
by Poe as themostmelancholyof all topics,is pursuedalmostto exhaustionin
nearlyall theChinese horrorstories.Moreover,thedeathof a beautifulwoman,
Poe's "mostpoetic topic in theworld,"becomes themainbirthmark of literary
success. We have a peek at the"death" effectfromsome of thetitles,such as
"The Ghost-HauntedTavern,""The Eyes of theDead," "The NineteenthCircle
of Hell," "The Gardenof Baby Skeletons,"and so on.

The otherthemethatcarriesthroughthestoryline is theevil or perversenessof

humannatureand thehorrifying revengethatcan emerge. In "The Black Cat,"
thenarratorobserves that"perversenessis one of theprimitiveimpulsesof the
humanheart- one oftheindivisibleprimaryfaculties,or sentiments,whichgive
directionto thecharacterof Man."2 One of themoststrikingexamples of this
is Cheng Gang's "The Sleep Valley;" theprotagonistbrewsa kindofpoisonous
wine forno reason,and thosewho drinkitlose theirmindsand brutallykilleach
otherin madness. Revenge is anotherrecurrentthemein Chinese fictionthat
echoes Poe's storiessuch as "The Cask of Amontillado"and "Hop Frog." In
manyChinese horrorstoriesthevictimis eitherburiedalive in thewall niche
or burnedto death forsome kind of insultthe narratorhas claimed. In "The
Sleep Valley,"forexample,theprotagonistmercilesslypersecutesthreewomen
to death simplybecause theyonce laughed at his thinand small body frame.

The direct borrowingof Poe's structuraltechniques is mainly represented

throughthe constructionof "horroreffect"and the applicationof firstperson
narrative. Poe's masterskill of "effect"is derivedfrommultiplereadingsof
psychological exploration,supernaturalhappenings,ingenious temporaland
spatial arrangements,and the narratingangles of the story. Chinese horror
storieslearn more fromPoe by situatingthe storiesin times and places that
terrify.Many take place duringpitch-darknightor in thunderand lightning
and in places like a desertedghost-hauntedhouse, a remoteand wild island,or
theappalling environmentof themorgueor thebasement.

The borrowing of Poe's "first-person"narrative,however, is one of the

most significantbreaks thatcontemporaryhorrorstorywritershave made in
modernizingChinese traditionalculture. Classic Chinese horrorstoriesuse an
omniscientthird-person narratorwho mediatesas an outsiderbetweenthetext
and thereader. The shorteningof narrativedistanceis employedby Poe to its

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i2o Poe in Contemporary China

greatadvantageto increasethe"presence"of thehorrorand thepsychological

depththe textcan present. Contemporaryhorrorstorywritershave followed
Poe's steps and carriedout this narrativestrategy.One of the writers,Zhou
Dedong, even puthis own name intothetitle,givingthereadertheimpression
of "zero" distanceto thediscourse.

The immensepopularityof Poe's horrorstorieswithyoungChinese writersis

interpretedas reflecting
thedeepeningfragmentation and alienationChina feels
because of itsfast-pacedmodernizationand theinvasionofcommercialization.
The increasing pressure of competition exaserbates each individual's
uncertaintiesabout thefutureas well as increasethepsychologicaltensionthat
fear,anxietyand traumacause. Poe's storiesexternalizethismentalcomplexity
and deeplytouchtheuneasypulse of China's progresstowardsmaterialwealth
and affluence.On theotherhand,horrorstoriesalso providea temporary escape
forindividualsoverwhelmedby such dramaticculturalchange. Poe and the
world he constructsattracta large numberof Chinese readerswho encourage
the commercializationof horrorstoriesand popular culture. These historical
and culturalcircumstancesquicklybuild a bridgebetweenPoe and theyoung
generationof writerswho sharethepain of thetimes.

Such textual and culturaldifferencesand similaritiesare studied with great

enthusiasm.One ofthemostresearchedtopicsis comparingPoe's "supernatural"
and "strange" tales with those of Pu Songling (1640-1715), a marginalized
literatusin theearly Qing Dynatywho turnedto fictionwritingafterhe failed
the civil service exams manytimes. His major achievementis Strange Tales
froma Chinese Studio, a collection of 431 shortstoriesthatexplore ghosts,
fox-spirits and abnormalhumanexperiences. One ofthemostcitedsimilarities
betweenthetwo writersis the "horroreffect"thatSonglingconjuresup at the
beginningof the tales. For instance,Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher"
opens witha chillingdepictionofthe"graysedge and theghastlytree-steams and
thevacant and eye-likewindows" (199) thattheprotagonistgazes down at the
"precipitousbrinkof a black and luridtarn"(199). A similarshudderingeffect
could be feltat thebeginninglines of Pu Songling's "A Fox-SpiritMarriesOff
a Daughter": theprotagonistarrivesat a "deserted"mansion"overgrownwith
weeds, and even in broad daylightnobodydares to enterit .... "To theWest,the
moon was a mere silverof lightfringingthemountain."3

Anotherheatedlydiscussed area forcomparativestudyis to letPoe meetface to

face withsome ofthebestancientChinesepoetsin theTang and Song Dynasties

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 Hao 121

suchas Meng Chiao (751-814), Li Ho (791-817) and Su Shi (1037-1101). Poe's

poetic principlesof the soul-reachingpursuitof beauty and the deep running
sentimentsof melancholyand sadness attractChinese criticsthe most. Meng
Chiao's addictiveuse of dreamand deathimages throughout his poems is seen
as an echoingof Poe's darkand mournfulpsychein "Annabel Lee," "To Helen"
and "The Raven." Li Ho, on the otherhand, is paired withPoe forhis wild
imaginationofthesupernatural and inclinationtowardsthebeautyofdeath. The
bewitchedgirlin his poem, "The Magic String,"could "call thestartsand dim
gods to her cup and dish theirfeast."4This typeof mysterycomplex has been
read by criticsin line withthemagic aura Poe createsin manyof his poems.

The mostpopularcomparativestudyofpoems is betweenPoe's "Annabel Lee"

and SuShi's "RiverTown: Recordinga Dream." Both poets are remembering
and mourninga lamentedlover. As Poe mournedhis young,deceased wife
VirginiaEliza Clemm, so Su Shi mournedhis deceased wifewhomhe married
when she was sixteen. The inseparable divine love between these lovers is
mostlybeautifullyeulogized in bothpoems,blurringtheboundarybetweenthis
worldand theotherworld. The longingforreunionis so strongthatitcould go
beyondtheseeminglyincommunicableline ofthelivingand thedead. Whereas
the demonized lover in Poe "lies down by the side" of his bride and "in her
tombby the soundingsea" (714), Sushi "picturesthe place of the heartbreak
year afteryear on moonlitnights,low pines beside a mound."5

Documentingand interpreting similaritiesbetween Poe and ancientChinese

poetsis a mainfieldofresearchforcontemporary Chinese Poe studies,although
thereare suspicions and accusations thattheyhave strippedoffthe historical
and culturalspecificityof these poems in orderto pursue a "misreading"and
subsume Poe into Chinese literarytradition. One of theirconsiderationsis
to bringChinese literatureto the world stage and receive more international
recognitionthroughtheseconnections.This interactiveprocess functionsas an
indexforthecomplicatedpolitical,social and culturalconcernsexperiencedby
theyoungergenerationin China. It is also partof theconstructioneffortsmade
by contemporary intellectualsto bringthe classical
almost-forgotten Chinese
cultureintoplay withtheWest and to seek rejuvenationand regeneration.

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122 Poe in Contemporary China

Notes

1. Lu Xun. CompleteCollectionof Lu Xun, VolII. (Beijing: People's Literature

PushingHouse, 1981),235.

2. EdgarAllan Poe. "The Black Cat." In GreatWorksofEdgarAllanPoe. (New

York: ChathamRiverPress,1987),383. Further references
to Poe's storieswill be
notedparenthetically.

3. Pu Songling.StrangeTalesofLiaozhai. Trans.Lu Yunzhong, ChenTifang,Yang

Liyi,and YangZhihong.(HongKong: The Commercial Press,LTD., 1988),27.

4. Li Ho. WangWei, Li PoyTuFu, Li Ho, Li Shang-Yin:FiveTangPoets.Trans.David

Young. (Ohio: OberlinCollegePress,1990),149.

5. Su Shi. Qtd. in RonaldC. Egan. Word,Image, and Deed in theLifeof Su Shi.

(Cambridge:HarvardUniversity Press,1994),316.

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