The Imaginary World of Eileen Chang

Author: Liu Fengjie / Xue Wen / Huang Yurong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features: From this submission letter by Eileen Chang, we can see that although the letter is quite plain, written by a nine-year-old child, it is still quite remarkable. In it, the young Eileen Chang mentions keeping a diary, indicating that she was a diligent student from a young age and possessed a certain level of judgment, knowing that she needed to submit works that were different from others. Unfortunately, the Shanghai News did not publish Eileen Chang's diary or drawings. If they had, it would have given us her earliest writings, allowing us to see what places she visited in Hangzhou, the friends she made, the drawings she created, and her innocent perspective on people and things. In fact, based on the clues provided in Eileen Chang's "Unpublished Manuscripts" and "The Dream of a Genius," her creative career can be traced back to the age of seven. That year, she wrote a family drama novel about a middle-class family surnamed Yun, who married a wife named Yue'e and had a younger sister-in-law named Feng'e. The older brother had gone into business, so Feng'e devised a plan to frame her sister-in-law. The novel was left unfinished, with a flavor of the classic Chinese tales "Three Words and Two Phrases," reflecting the frequent conflicts between sisters-in-law and sisters-in-law in traditional Chinese families. Most of the novels Eileen Chang wrote later also dealt with family issues. At such a young age, it is possible that the seeds of her later development were already sown. Additionally, she wrote a historical novel, beginning with the line, "Let me tell you about the late Sui and early Tang periods," which had a style similar to "The Romance of the Sui and Tang." This was because she was fond of that era, finding it vibrant and full of color. However, she only wrote it on a blank page of an old ledger and did not finish it. But this may also be related to her later works. The opening line, "Let me tell you," creates a distant and melancholic atmosphere, much like the opening of "Love in a Fallen City," which begins with the sound of the huqin (a traditional Chinese string instrument), though not using the phrase "Let me tell you," it achieves a similar effect. At this time, Eileen Chang was deeply immersed in historical stories, which was consistent with her age. Her later work "Farewell My Concubine" was also a historical piece, serving as a way for her to fulfill her love for historical stories. After this, Eileen Chang did not write any more historical novels, but Chinese history remained the backdrop of her works, enhancing their cultural atmosphere and intellectual significance. Eileen Chang was a writer who lived in her time, yet her gaze was cast into the vast expanse of history, filled with longing. This glimpse ultimately connected her to China's historical and cultural heritage. In the history of modern Chinese literature, Eileen Chang was a writer with a distinctly Chinese flavor. P3-4