WHOSE REALITY?

THE CHALLENGE OF REALISM IN THE WORK OF MAO DUN

By Joana Carlson Avila
Authors have often used realism as a historical mirror. In its zenith, authors
promoted realism as the most accurate portrayal of human experience, and even allowed
it to serve as a method of recording history. This paper, however, will present a case
against the general acceptance of the historicity of realism, particularly in the work of
Chinese realist Mao Dun (1896-1981). First, this essay will trace realism from its roots in
19th Century Europe to its adaptation to revolutionary events in China during the early
part of the 20th Century. Next, it will examine Mao Duns realism, focusing especially on
the factors that influenced him most: foreign authors and ideologies, Chinese tradition
and politics, class struggle, and the emergence of feminism in China. The essay will then
examine two of Mao Duns works, The Lin Family Shop and Spring Silkworms as
examples of his realism. Finally, it will argue that although Mao Dun strove to present a
realistic account of Chinese life in the 1930s, due to intrinsic authorial partiality, he did
not meet his goal of unbiased fiction. This essay poses two questions: Can realist fiction
convey reality, and if so, whose reality?
Origins of Realism and Its Emergence in China
When Western literary historians trace the emergence of realism in China, they
often only recognize its roots in 19th century Europe, since these critics are more prone to
focus on aspects of literature that are homologous to their own literary tradition. 1
Although Western influence is an indispensable facet of Chinese realism, it does not
adequately represent the history of the genre in China. Michael Gotz explains,
A prime example of Western political and cultural biases at work in the
field of modern Chinese literary studies is the fact that the overwhelming
majority of work has concentrated on literature of the May Fourth period
and the 1930sEmphasis is often placed, therefore, on the influence of
European literary movements (romanticism, realism, sentimentalism,
naturalism, and the like)2
Realism did not emerge solely from the Western tradition; history also contributed to
many classical Chinese texts and much of the prose written during the Song, Ming, and
Qing Dynasties.3 While it is ethnocentric to assume that Chinese authors imported the
1

Michael Gotz, The Development of Modern Chinese Literature Studies in the West: A Critical View,
Modern China, Vol. 2, No. 3, Literature and Revolution, (Jul., 1976), 398.
2
Gotz, The Development of Modern Chinese Literature Studies in the West, 398.
3
David Der-wei Wang, Fictional Realism in Twentieth-Century China: Mao Dun, Lao She, Shen Congwen,
Columbia University Press: New York (1992), 28-29.

realist tradition entirely from the West, in their attempt to reconstruct a new society
Chinese realists did look beyond national literature, drawing on European authors and
theories to help construct modern Chinese realism.
This new realism emerged in response to the May Fourth New Culture Movement
in 1919 and intellectual activism of the period. Many of these Chinese theorists and
writers were Westernized intellectuals with an elitist attitude who studied abroad and
later returned to China with plans to improve the national condition. 4 Chen Du Xiu, one
of the most influential thinkers of May Fourth Movement, believed realism was the
cornerstone of New Literature. 5 He claimed that literature and the human experience
existed on parallel planesthat realism reflected the proletarian revolution, the most
advanced stage of social development.
During the 1920s, Chinese writers eager to advance the cause of social revolution
abandoned the emotive, passionate, and solipsistic genre of Chinese romanticism. They
believed that only realist literature could save their nation; if a Marxist revolution were to
occur, only literature that reflected the daily hardships of the proletariat could serve as its
catalyst.6 Because of the inseparability of realism from the proletarian revolution, realist
authors exposed working-class dilemmas, thus prompting their readers to action. Rifts
developed between authors like Mao Dun and Lu Xun, who claimed to strive for purity in
their writing, and other authors who wrote politicized socialist realism. Since realist
literature was supposed to accurately portray the proletariat, however, most of these
bourgeois authors were severely handicapped. Few had any personal knowledge of
proletarian, merchant, or peasant lifestyles, and as the literary elite, many were more
familiar with the petty bourgeois lifestyle they strove to eliminate.
Mao Duns Inspirations and Their Impact
Western Authors and Ideologies
Mao Dun derived his distinct brand of realism from an amalgamation of foreign
and indigenous influences, though unlike many of his contemporaries, Mao Dun did not
study abroad, encountering Western literature at Beijing University and the Shanghai
Commercial Press, instead.7 The two Western authors who had the most profound
influence were Emile Zola and Leo Tolstoy.8 Despite their contradictory worldviews and
works, Mao Dun appears to have incorporated both literary giants into his work,
reshaping their ideologies to fit Chinese paradigms and his own agenda. Earlier literary
critics claimed ignorance shaped Mao Duns unusual appropriation of Western
naturalism. However, David Der-Wei Wang counters that, even if [Mao Dun] had a full
4

Liping Feng, Democracy and Elitism: The May Fourth Ideal of Literature, Modern China, Vol. 22, No.
2, (Apr. 1996), 184.
5
Sylvia Chan, Realism or Socialist Realism? The Proletarian Episode in Modern Chinese Literature, The
Australian Journal of Chinese Affairs, No. 9, (Jan. 1983), 55.
6
Paul G. Pickwicz, Marxist Literary Thought in China: The Influence of Ch Chiu-pai, University of
California Press: Berkeley and Los Angeles (1981), x.
7
Yu-Shih Chen, Realism and Allegory in the Early Fiction of Mao Tun, Indiana University Press:
Bloomington (1996), 17-18.
8
Wang, Fictional Realism in Twentieth-Century China, 11.

knowledge of naturalism, he might have chosen to misread it in order to accommodate to

new social/historical environments.9
Emile Zola, the 19th century French author, and the Father of Naturalism, made
significant contributions to modern realism. Zola was politically active, and his
involvement in the Dreyfus Affair of the 1890s, in which the French government accused
an innocent Jewish officer of espionage, prompted Zola to pen JAccuse, as an indictment
against the government.10 Although naturalism did not make inroads into China until the
1920s, more than a decade after Zolas death, Mao Duns scientific realism (especially
evident in Spring Silkworms) recognizably emulated Zolas style. Additionally, Mao
Dun, like Zola, tried to accurately portray various classes of Chinese society. Looking at
Maos early work, the Village Trilogy (Spring Silkworms, Autumn Harvest, and
Winter Ruins) portrays rural life, The Lin Family Shop, town life, and Midnight
recreates urban society.11 Reflecting a Zolaesque concern with the full strata of society,
Mao Dun chronicled a day in China, petitioning housewives, prostitutes, and secret
agents, among others, to write down their experiences in One Day in China, May 21,
1936.12
In addition to the naturalism Mao Dun adapted from Zola, critics also note the
presence of Leo Tolstoys humanitarianism.13 Tolstoy based most of his works on journal
entries that reflected a deeper devotion to the fate of society than concern with aesthetics.
Although Tolstoys Chinese readers had little interest in his belief that literature should
advance the Christian brotherhood, they gravitated toward Tolstoys style because of his
passion to save society.14 Mao Dun strove to be the same sort of social savior, and
according to Wang, Though he personally favors symbolism and neo-romanticism, Mao
Dun declares that he is obliged to promote a realist/naturalist movement since it best
meets Chinas current needs.15
Chinese tradition and climate
In addition to the Western influences discussed above, several inherently Chinese
forces influenced Mao Duns use of historical fiction. Due to Confucian rationalism, the
lack of an epic tradition, and the derision of mythology among intellectuals, many
Chinese considered history the only indigenous form of prose writing. In fact, fiction did
not distinguish itself from history until writers in the Tang Dynasty adopted fictional
elements from Indian culture.16 May Fourth writers felt compelled to document what was
happening in their country during the Revolutionary Period, and authors like Mao Dun
felt a certain urgency to capture events while they remained fresh in their readers minds.
9

Wang, Fictional Realism in Twentieth-Century China, 70-71.

William J. Berg and Laurey K. Martin, Emile Zola Revisited (New York: Twayne Publishers, 1992), 162163.
11
Wang, Fictional Realism in Twentieth-Century China, 49.
12
Wang, Fictional Realism in Twentieth-Century China, 45.
13
Wang, Fictional Realism in Twentieth-Century China, 35.
14
Wang, Fictional Realism in Twentieth-Century China, 72.
15
Wang, Fictional Realism in Twentieth-Century China, 71.
16
Marston Anderson, The Limits of Realism: Chinese Fiction in the Revolutionary Period, University of
California Press: Berkeley and Los Angeles, (1990), 23.
10

Barriers to social transformation seemed to crop up everywhere: power struggles with

landlords, internal civil war between the Guomingdang and the Chinese Communist
Party, and the external war against Japanese aggression. Every aspect of the revolution
influenced society, and authors such as Mao Dun used these events as historical
backdrops for their work. In Mao Duns fiction, the author portrays events like the
Mukden Incident of 1931, the nationalist/communist split, and the Japanese closure of
Chinese silk factories in a personal way.17
This focus on current events encourages revisionist history. Members of the
Communist Party harshly criticized Mao Duns work, alleging that his stories, which
aimed at presenting reality, rather than socialist reality, were nothing more than
bourgeoisie realism, or propaganda.18 In their works these writers disagreed over
realisms purpose; orthodox communist members claimed realism should promote the
proletarian cause by focusing on the benefits of socialism, while others like Mao Dun
strove to be more objective.
The Emergence of Feminism in China
In addition to literary and political factors, social changes profoundly influenced
Mao Dun. Traditionally, male society objectified and possessed Chinese women, binding
them ideologically with Confucian bonds of chastity and fidelity and physically binding
womens feet to appeal to male fetishes. After the May Fourth Movement, however,
intellectuals made significant strides toward a more egalitarian role for women. Male
authors tried to portray female protagonists as complex characters, and some New
Literature authors even wrote their stories from a feminine perspective. Moreover, in the
years that followed, female authors, a rarity under the exclusively male Confucian
education system, emerged, thus allowing women to speak for themselves.
A traditional reading of Mao Duns work suggests a compassionate, thoughtful
rendering of female characters, women who show a level of independence and
revolutionary participation not previously allowed. Some critics suggest that he is at his
literary best in his portrayals of women. 19 Others take a harsher view of these fictional
women, though. They argue that Mao Duns female characters fall into two distinct
groups: the virtuous woman and the femme fatale. In works such as Rainbow, he shows
the exemplary woman, sacrificing her own desires for the greater good of the revolution,
while in Midnight, he portrays the femme fatale, a woman willing to use her sexuality to
get what she wants.20 In the end, the latter incurs punishment for her transgressions and
her ambition, while the audience lauds the former for her sacrifice.

Class struggle
17

Wang, Fictional Realism in Twentieth-Century China, 31.

Chan, Realism or Socialist Realism? 56.
19
Chen, Realism and Allegory, 11.
20
Wang, Fictional Realism in Twentieth-Century China, 85.
18

The final influence on Mao Duns realism addressed here is the role of class
struggle. One of New Literatures main difficulties in its portrayal of class was that
although its authors wrote for the masses, as elites they had little idea what it was like to
be a member of the working class. Mao Dun even claimed, Ordinary Chinese have
absolutely no ability of artistic appreciation.21 He disparaged authors who wrote for
proletarian audiences, saying that the proletariats high illiteracy rates, minimal leisure
time, and lack of interest in the new literary genre made authors efforts futile. 22 Mao
Duns middle-class background limited his ability to fairly portray other classes.
According to Sylvia Chan, Both Lu Xun and Mao Dun believed that a writer should
confine himself to the aspects of life he was most familiar with through his own personal
experience[But] they honestly confessed to their ignorance of the life of the proletariat
and admitted that they were better acquainted the petty-bourgeois intellectuals, shopkeepers and small farmers.23
Analysis of Mao Duns Realism in The Lin Family Shop and Spring Silkworms
It is important to understand how these influences manifest themselves in Mao
Duns work, especially as they pertain specifically to The Lin Family Shop and Spring
Silkworms. By analyzing these two works, both published in 1932, which detail the
lives of two different Chinese communities, the reader will see how the aforementioned
pressures pervade Mao Duns writing.
The Lin Family Shop
The Lin Family Shop recounts the plight of Shopkeeper Lin and his family as they
struggle to pay their debts and collect their outstanding loans. Political and economic
struggles against invading Japanese troops and corrupt Guomingdang officials further
complicate their situation. Throughout the story we see, as director Shui Hua
foreshadows in his screen adaptation, big fish eating the little fish, who in turn ate
shrimp.24 Written in the wake of the catastrophic Mukden Incident in Manchuria, which
allowed the Japanese to set up their puppet government in Changchun, the reader cannot
overlook the role of history and current events. The anti-Japanese sentiment reflected by
the townspeople is not at all surprising, nor is the anti-Guomingdang position, since the
nationalists were occasionally guilty of banditry and extortion. Given Mao Duns own
disillusionment after the collapse of the National Front in 1927 and Chiang Kai-Sheks
extermination expeditions against the Communist Party, the reader must wonder how
fairly Mao Dun could portray the nationalists.
Mrs. Lin and A Shou, the key female characters in The Lin Family Shop, are both
exemplary women. Mrs. Lin is devoted to her husband and ably manages her
household, while A Shou is the stereotypical Chinese daughter, slightly petulant and
nave, but obedient and generally concerned with her familys well being. Mao Dun
departs from traditional female characterization, giving Mrs. Lin a strong independent
21

Feng, Democracy and Elitism, 184.

Chan, Realism or Socialist Realism? 60, 65.
23
Chan, Realism or Socialist Realism? 63.
24
The Lin Family Shop (lin jia pu zi). Directed by Shui Hua. Beijing, China: Beijing Film Studio, 1959.
22

streak that manifests itself when she refuses to give her daughter as a concubine and
decides that she will allow her husband and daughter to escape while she stays behind to
face the authorities. But apart from Mrs. Lins minor representation of female
empowerment, the author portrays other women, and often Mrs. Lin herself, as
superstitious, emotional, and gullible.
In similar fashion, individuals outside the working-class are shown little
compassion or depth of character. The author portrays Mr. Yu as an extortionist,
concerned only with receiving bribes from local businessmen while pretending to be
sympathetic to their concerns, and reduces Director Pu to a womanizing glutton,
concerned only with his financial and sexual prosperity. Although the reader is generally
encouraged to pity the different levels of society disenfranchising each other, the text
does not permit the reader to show compassion for Mr. Yu or Director Pu.
Spring Silkworms
Spring Silkworms examines rural life with the same fatalistic perspective as
The Lin Family Shop. Despite the protagonists hard work, their efforts are futile and they
are destined to grow poorer the harder they work. As in The Lin Family Shop, current
events play a central role in plot development. In Spring Silkworms, the introduction of
foreign silkworms, which are preferred over native silkworms, disrupts the native
Chinese silk industry, and the Japanese invasion of Shanghai forces silk filatures to close
or buy at drastically reduced prices.
The emphasis on class in Spring Silkworms is evident. Early in the narrative,
the reader encounters the rise and fall of both Master Chens family and Old Tong Baos
family, a change that Old Tong Bao attributes to both economic and supernatural forces.
The peasants also express strong anti-foreign sentiments. The reader learns that although
he has never met one, Old Tong Bao hates foreign devils, and that according to Master
Chen, The foreign devils have swindled our money away.25
The majority of the women in Spring Silkworms are traditional nurturers, so it
is interesting to note the consequences deviant women in the story face. Lotus is
portrayed as a hussy, a shameless, man-crazy baggage, who has a reputation around
town.26 Considering Lotuss character and Mao Duns polarization of women, the reader
is not surprised to learn that of all the families raising silkworms, only Lotuss family has
bad luck.
The Failure of Realism in Mao Duns Work
Although Mao Duns work served an important purpose in modern Chinese
literature, it failed to paint an accurate picture of Chinese society in the late 1920s and
1930s.27 All authors struggle with the issue of perspective and personal experience, but as
a realist author, Mao Dun faced these burdens in a more problematic way, since his
influences could never be completely divorced from his work. In Mao Duns case,
25

Mao Dun, The Shop of the Lin Family and Spring Silkworms, trans. Sidney Shapiro (Beijing: Foreign
Languages Press, 2001), 149.
26
Mao, The Shop of the Lin Family and Spring Silkworms, 163, 165.
27
Chan, Realism or Socialist Realism? 58.

elements of unintentional bias are evident. As an author and editor, he alienated himself
from the masses, maintaining the elitist position that the masses were too simple to
understand artistic literature, though he seemed to realize that only proletarian and
peasant writers could write truly objective literature about their respective classes. 28 With
his perspective in mind, the reader must view Mao Duns shopkeepers, farmers, and
merchants with caution, remembering that their portrayal is a product of the authors
middle-class background.
Mao Duns representation of women is another factor that stymies his realism. As
a communist, he undoubtedly felt that women should play an active role in the revolution,
and that society should allow them a greater degree of freedom. Unfortunately, the
portrayal of women in his work reflects a dichotomization of femininity, which prevents
his female characters from becoming multifaceted, realistic characters.
Another aspect of Mao Duns difficulty in producing realist works is politics.
Although he vocally opposed authors who deliberately used their writing to promote
communism, Mao Duns use of current events may have been as influential as other
authors blatantly pro-communist works. The ways in which the author framed capitalism
and the Guomindang are important to note. In both The Lin Family Shop and Spring
Silkworms, capitalism is a system in which the disadvantaged get poorer regardless of
effort and Nationalists are always villains or accomplices. The Lin Family Shop shows
Guomindang soldiers as corrupt, and in Spring Silkworms, old Tong Bao demonstrates
a lack of confidence in Guomindang policy:
He had heard those young propaganda speechmakers the Guomindang
sent when he went into the market town. Though they cried Throw out
the foreign devils, they were dressed in Western-style clothing. His guess
was that they were secretly in league with the foreign devils, that they had
been purposely sent to delude the countryfolk!29
Like Tolstoy and numerous Chinese New Literature authors, Mao Dun was on a
mission. He was a reactionary, and through his portrayal of ordinary Chinese citizens, he
strove to create a revolutionary awareness, moving his readers to action.
Overall, history remembers Mao Dun as a writer who conscientiously portrayed
the Chinese reality of the Revolutionary Era. His ideological battles with so-called
social realists resulted in his expulsion from the Chinese Communist Party, as well as
personal and professional alienation. However, despite Mao Duns sacrifices and his
noble intentions, his realism fell short of its goal. Issues over which Mao Dun had no
controlnamely his social, cultural, and literary backgroundwere daunting obstacles,
which, though addressed in his work, ultimately overpowered the author. While readers
may still look to Mao Duns works to gain perspective on Chinese society, they must
keep in mind that they are primarily reading his version of reality.

28
29

Chan, Realism or Socialist Realism? 58.

Mao, The Shop of the Lin Family and Spring Silkworms, 151.