Red Endless: The Legend of Sai Jinhua (Volume 1 and 2): The Legend of Sai Jinhua

Author: Zhang Xian
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-09-01
Features: Perhaps few women in modern Chinese history have had such a legendary life as she did, and few have experienced such dramatic rises and falls. Cai Jinhua, a fallen courtesan of extraordinary renown, a pitiful and sorrowful yet sympathetic woman, like her name suggests, was as elusive as floating clouds, as if a dream from another world. In the book Endless Beauty: The Legend of Cai Jinhua, the author couple Zhang Xian and Qin Zhiyu examine and analyze the chaotic history with sharp insight, vividly dissecting the turbulent and dark era, striving to unveil the layers of dramatic masks that have long covered Cai Jinhua in the public imagination and to reinterpret her, restoring her to her natural essence and mortal appearance. Through artistic means, they depict a common woman of the brothels—full of feminine charm yet possessing intelligence and courage, immersed in vices and vanity yet retaining a kind heart.
Cai Jinhua is a controversial figure in modern Chinese history, who was both a famous courtesan and the wife of a foreign ambassador. Throughout her life, she witnessed major historical events such as the First Sino-Japanese War, the Eight-Nation Alliance’s occupation of Beijing, the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the establishment of the Republic of China, and Japan’s invasion of China. Her age, origins, experiences, and character remain shrouded in mystery for posterity. It can be said that in China’s 5,000-year civilization, Cai Jinhua stands out as one of the most legendary women. Amidst chaos, she repeatedly entered and left the capital, navigating among high-ranking officials and nobles. In her youth, she married a scholar-official, went on a diplomatic mission to Europe, and gained fame abroad. Her wide circle of connections played a special role during the Boxer Rebellion, leading to the "Cai Jinhua fever" in academia, literature, and the press in the 1930s. Decades later, looking back, new insights emerged, one of the main motivations behind Nanjing Publishing House’s decision to publish Endless Beauty: The Legend of Cai Jinhua.
This book, for the first time, presents a full-length novel of over 600,000 words describing the legendary life of Cai Jinhua, restoring her to the status of an ordinary person. In all previous books about her, she was either glorified or condemned. Compared to works of a similar theme, this book has the following features: First, it reinterprets a controversial historical figure from the perspective of historical materialism and the standpoint of human nature and women, reflecting the idea that only the revolution of the working class could save China. Second, in the portrayal of major events and characters, it neither deviates from history nor rigidly adheres to its limitations. The manuscript boldly employs artistic imagination to create and develop key characters and plots, thereby better shaping the main figures. Third, whether depicting positive or negative characters, it avoids the limitations of history and stereotypical portrayals, instead creating vivid and lifelike personalities.
Endless Beauty: The Legend of Cai Jinhua is written by Zhang Xian, a renowned contemporary Chinese writer. He won the National Excellent Short Story Award in 1979 and 1980 for his works Memory and The Corner of Love Forgotten. Later, his novels on the fate of women, such as The Widow, The Ginkgo Tree, and The Red Silk Thread That Can Never Be Untied, received widespread acclaim from the literary world and were translated into English, Japanese, German, French, Russian, and other languages, enjoying significant influence overseas. At the same time, he wrote and adapted more than a dozen film scripts, which were successfully made into movies. Films like A Heart of Hardship, The Corner of Love Forgotten, Xi Woman Xiao Xiao, Youth Forever, and The Well won awards and received positive reviews both domestically and internationally. For his script The Corner of Love Forgotten, Zhang Xian won the Best Screenwriter Award at the Golden Rooster Awards in 1981. In the 1990s, his works The Emperor Tang Minghuang and The Story of the Double Bridge won the Flying Award and the Five One Project Award, among other honors.
The other author of the book, Zhang Xian’s wife Qin Zhiyu, is a famous director, screenwriter, and producer at the Beijing Film Studio. As the daughter of a prominent family and a renowned director in China, she has created numerous film and television works, including Yang Kaihui, Beijing People, Next Stop, Harbor, and The Story of the Double Bridge. She has received awards such as the 85th Golden Calf Award, the 92nd Flying Award, the 92nd Five One Project Award, and the 1980 National Excellent Song Award. The lyrics she wrote for the theme song of A Sweet Career, "Our Lives Are Full of Sunshine," became one of the most popular folk songs. In 1994, Zhang Xian spent a year and a half writing Cai Jinhua, with Qin Zhiyu assisting in collecting materials and participating in the creation. After Zhang Xian’s passing, as a director, screenwriter, and writer who paid close attention to women’s issues, Qin Zhiyu referenced a vast amount of material, drawing on her deep understanding of the status and real-life struggles of Chinese women, to repeatedly revise the work. Through ten years of painstaking effort, she left her reflections on many issues for the readers.
With the scrutiny, analysis, and meticulous shaping of these two renowned authors, the complex figure of Cai Jinhua finally comes alive before the readers. The book is highly readable and truly appeals to both the elite and the masses, possessing high artistic value and collectible worth. The moment the news of its publication spread, bookstores across the country rushed to place orders. The market response was extremely enthusiastic.