Crows' Song

Author: Chi Li
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-01-01
Features: In contemporary literature, Chi Li is known for her "non-feminine" writing style, but her recent work "The Song of the Crow" shows a shift towards "female writing." This article discusses the displacement of the female author's gendered creative stance from the perspectives of the female narrative stance, the narrative discourse of female growth, and the aesthetic style of the works. Wang Lagu had harbored murderous intent toward Ding Zongwang for days. The hatred had been brewing for generations, and by the time it reached Wang Lagu, it only needed a spark to ignite. The people of Mian Water Town knew that Wang Lagu's ancestors had once been wealthy. Wang Lagu's great-grandfather, Wang Lianfang, was one of the five "Five Dragons" who dominated Mian Water Town. At the age of 15, Wang Lianfang joined the Red Gang and, after taking an oath with incense and drinking rooster blood wine, went to Wudang Mountain to train in martial arts for three years. Upon returning to Mian Water Town, he did something that shook the town and terrified the gods: he robbed the imperial grain from the Xiang River. From then on, Wang Lianfang became a notable figure in Mian Water Town. Wang Lianfang opened a fresh silk shop. While other silk shops dared only to do business with those from Zhejiang and Jiangsu, Wang Lianfang dared to do business with the Japanese Mitsui Trading Company, and naturally, he prospered quickly. After making a fortune, he opened a large-scale trading company, specializing in selling the British Asiatic Oil Company's anchor brand and monk hat brand kerosene. At that time, it was the 25th year of the Daoguang reign of the Qing Dynasty, and the Jianghan Plain still had no idea what electricity was, while kerosene lamps were becoming increasingly popular from towns to the countryside. Back then, China was still far from being able to produce its own kerosene, so foreign kerosene dominated the entire market. By his later years, Wang Lianfang was rich beyond measure, having taken three wives and four concubines and built a grand mansion. As Wang Lianfang indulged in the pleasures of incense, jade, and fine wine, the Ding family, meanwhile, shivered in the cold streets, holding trial cigarettes from the and desperately asking passersby to try them for free. At that time, the Ding family had only one Hehe pharmacy and one general goods store. The two sons did business, while the other sons studied, and at best, they could only be considered a middle-class family. Unexpectedly, cigarettes were quietly replacing water pipes and pipe tobacco. One day, after a boatman smoked a trial cigarette given by the Ding family and carelessly threw away the cigarette butt, the cigarette butt ignited the oil depot of the Wang family by the Xiang River. This 100-ton oil depot burned the entire sky of Mian Water Town red. Wang Lianfang stood motionless on the shoal, staring intently at the fire. After the last wisp of flame died down, Wang Lianfang fell backward and died. It was now the turn of Wang Lagu's grandfather's generation. This generation had four brothers, one legitimate and three illegitimate. All were brought up in luxury, and the sudden loss of their backing left them uneasy and anxious. Among the four brothers, the legitimate Wang Xiong was the most frail. The Ding family often invited the sorrowful Wang Xiong, who walked the streets, into their shop to comfort him. Over time, Wang Xiong developed a habit of smoking cigarettes. Later, when he found cigarettes no longer satisfying, he turned to opium. The three illegitimate brothers, seeing Wang Xiong smoke opium, couldn’t stand it and also took their family property to smoke opium. A family with no income suddenly had four opium pipes. How long could a mansion last with four people smoking opium? It was the 26th year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing Dynasty, and the price of opium was still relatively stable—half a jin of Yun opium cost three silver dollars, while Guizhou black opium cost two silver and two dozen. This was like a dull knife, slowly and steadily killing the Wang family. The day before selling their mansion, Wang Xiong’s wife, holding their only son, escaped from the house and bought a few acres of vegetable land and a thatched cottage from a farmer near Mian Water Town to hide. Not only did the Wang family sell their mansion, but they later even sold their women and children. The four brothers of the Wang family lay in the opium dens all day without getting up. Even when they couldn’t wait for the opium to be prepared in the pipes, they swallowed it with boiling water. In the end, some were poisoned to death, and others starved to death.