"Red Fates: The Legend of Sai Jinhua (Volumes 1 and 2)"

Author: Zhang Xian
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-09-01
Features: Sa Jinhua is a highly controversial figure in modern Chinese history. She was both a famous courtesan and an ambassador's wife, experiencing 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, origin, experiences, and personality have left many mysteries for later generations. It can be said that in China's 5,000-year civilization, Sa Jinhua is 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 top scholar and was sent to Europe as an envoy, gaining fame abroad. Her wide circle of connections played a special role during the Boxer Rebellion, leading to the "Sa Jinhua fever" in academia, literature, and the press in the 1930s. Decades later, looking back at the past, new insights emerge, one of the main motivations behind Nanjing Publishing House's book Endless Beauty – The Legend of Sa Jinhua. This book, for the first time, presents Sa Jinhua's legendary life in a full-length novel of over 600,000 words, restoring her to the status of an ordinary person. In all previous books about Sa Jinhua, she was either glorified or condemned. Compared to similar works, this book has the following features: First, it reinterprets and evaluates a controversial historical figure from the perspective of historical materialism and the standpoint of human nature and women. The manuscript moves from the experiences of a lowly individual to reflections on the fate of the entire nation, reflecting the historical inevitability that only the revolution of the working class could save China. Second, in the portrayal of major events and characters, it neither strays from history nor rigidly adheres to its limitations. The manuscript boldly employs artistic imagination, reasonably fabricating key figures and plots to better shape the main characters. Third, whether depicting positive or negative characters, it is not constrained by history or stereotyped, but instead creates vivid and lifelike personalities. Endless Beauty – The Legend of Sa 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 Forgotten by Love, respectively. Later, his novels on the fate of women, such as The Unwidowed, The Ginkgo Tree, and The Red Thread That Cannot Be Broken, received widespread acclaim from the literary world and were translated into English, Japanese, German, French, Russian, and other languages, gaining significant influence overseas. At the same time, he wrote and adapted over a dozen film scripts, which were turned into films. Works like A Heart of Hardship, The Corner Forgotten by Love, Xi Woman Xiao Xiao, Youth Forever, and The Well won awards both domestically and internationally. Zhang Xian received the Best Screenwriter Award at the 1981 Golden Rooster Awards for The Corner Forgotten by Love. In the 1990s, his works Emperor Tang Minghuang and The Story of Double Bridges 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, Port, and The Story of Double Bridges, among others. She has won awards such as the 1985 Golden Calf Award, the 1992 Flying Award, the 1992 Five One Project Award, and the 1980 National Excellent Song Award. The lyrics of the theme song "Our Lives Are Full of Sunshine" from her work A Sweet Career became one of the most popular folk songs. In 1994, Zhang Xian spent a year and a half writing Sa Jinhua, with his wife Qin Zhiyu helping to gather materials and participate in the creation. After Zhang Xian's passing, as a director, screenwriter, and writer who paid close attention to women's issues, Qin Zhiyu referred to a vast amount of materials, drawing on her deep understanding of the status and living conditions of Chinese women in reality, to repeatedly revise the work. Through ten years of painstaking effort, she left her reflections on many issues for the readers in the process of continuous adaptation and creation. The complex character of Sa Jinhua, after the scrutiny, analysis, and meticulous shaping by these two masters, finally stands vividly before the readers. The book is highly readable and truly caters to both the refined and the masses, possessing high artistic appreciation and collection value. The moment the news of the book's publication spread, bookstores across the country rushed to place orders. The market response was extremely enthusiastic.