Modern Times (novel)

Modern Times
Chinese	文明小史
Literal meaning	Short History of Civilization or A Brief History of Modern Times or A Brief History of Enlightenment
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Wénmíng Xiǎoshǐ Wade–Giles Wen-ming Hsiao-shih

Cover of Wenming Xiaoshi (Modern Times), from the Fudan University

Introduction of the novel (volume one) in a 1915 edition

Wenming Xiaoshi (Chinese: 文明小史), translated into English as Modern Times, is a novel by Li Baojia (Li Boyuan). The novel is a satire of pseudo-reformers in the Qing Dynasty period who found difficulty adjusting to modernization, including its complexities and problems. The novel consist of 60 chapters. It has often been compared to Li's other novel Officialdom Unmasked. From 1903 to 1905 the work was serialized in Fiction Illustrated. The first edition of the entire work was published in 1906. Douglas Lancashire published an English translation, titled "Modern Times," in 1996.

Plot

The background of the novel is that in the late Qing Dynasty, China's borders were opened by the West. At that time, conservative Chinese people saw the strong ship and sharp cannon of modern Western civilization, leading to the rise of the reformist movement, and many people were sent to study abroad. The article adopts a "Zhulian style" structure, without the protagonist and central character. Their stories unfold one after another, interconnected, and finally concluded in the final chapter.

Characters

• Master Yao - He is a provincial degree holder with a son. In chapter 16, Master Yao takes his son and three disciplines to Shanghai in order to show them what Western life looks like to them. Master Yao has them explore the city and familiarize themselves with the academic programs at schools in the area.

References

• Doleželová-Velingerová, Milena. "Chapter 38: Fiction from the End of the Empire to the Beginning of the Republic (1897-1916)" in: Mair, Victor H. (editor). The Columbia History of Chinese Literature. Columbia University Press, August 13, 2013. p. 697-731. ISBN 0231528515, 9780231528511.
• Hegel, Robert E. "The Chinese Novel at the Turn of the Century" (book review). Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews (CLEAR), ISSN 0161-9705, 07/1983, Volume 5, Issue 1/2, pp. 188 – 191
• PL, "Li Pao-chia." In: Nienhauser, William H. (editor). The Indiana Companion to Traditional Chinese Literature, Part 1. Indiana University Press, 1986. ISBN 0253329833, 9780253329837.
• Yeh, Wen-hsin. "Shanghai Modernity: Commerce and Culture in a Republican City." in: Wakeman, Frederic E., Jr. and Richard Louis Edmonds (editors). Reappraising Republican China. Oxford University Press, 2000.

External links

• (in Chinese) Wenming Xiaoshi