Camel Xiangzi

Author: Lao She
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-07-01
Features: Camel Xiangzi is the representative work of Mr. Lao She, written in Qingdao in 1936. Lao She always regarded teaching as his main occupation and writing as a sideline. By the summer of 1936, he resigned from his teaching position at Shandong University and devoted himself entirely to writing. In his own words, "Camel Xiangzi was my breakthrough as a professional writer." The success of Camel Xiangzi lies first and foremost in the success of its characters. In the history of modern Chinese literature, writers such as Hu Shi, Liu Banruo, and Lu Xun have written about rickshaw pullers from various perspectives, but they did so from the perspective of intellectuals looking down upon them, offering sympathy or praise for this profession or, more broadly, for the lower classes. Although Mr. Lao She was a master of humor, Camel Xiangzi is a tragic work. The writer did not deliberately seek humor but rather depicted life as it is. All the characters in the work are on a downward path, from Xiangzi, Huxiu, Xiaofu, Erqiangzi, the old man and his grandson, Lao Ma, to Liu Siye, who once commanded great prestige, all heading toward despair and dimness. It is the tragedy of these characters that constitutes the great tragedy of the entire society.