Last night's moonlight: Reflecting on Eileen Chang, Life, Family Background, Relationships

Author: Jin Hongda
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-01-01
Features: In a world that seems rushed and chaotic, Eileen Chang appears to be fading away. However, compared to the increasingly subtle knowledge that only reaches a small circle, discussions, critiques, and studies of Eileen Chang are thriving. Online and in forums, the "new generation" and their followers engage in passionate talks about her, almost as if it has become a trend. Eileen Chang is not a fashionable figure; her literary style is even quite desolate and aged. This is a very peculiar cultural phenomenon. Some attribute it to the result of "hyping," but we do not believe anyone has such power. A Western writer once said that some people shock us, but once they (or she) pass away, we lose interest in them. Achievements may add luster, but only talent can reveal substance. Eileen Chang is a writer who displays the weight of her talent in her writing. Discussing Eileen Chang involves many issues—literary, cultural, social, historical, and philosophical, among others. It gives one a sense of layer upon layer of profound and lasting elegance, always as if it has not yet reached its conclusion, even—has not yet reached its full potential. This book is divided into four parts: Part One is Early Life, Part Two discusses Old Works, Part Three is Reminiscences of Interactions, and Part Four is Biographical Research. The history of Eileen Chang's works over the past decades of reception shows that no matter how long the dust of time conceals them, enduring literary works will ultimately spread far and wide.