Imperial-Time-Order: Literature, Intellectual History, and China's Road to Empire

380 Pages·2015·4.918 MB·English

by  Kun Qian

Imperial-Time-Order
Ideas, History, and Modern China
Edited by
Ban WANG (Stanford University)
WANG Hui (Tsinghua University)
VOLUME 13
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/ihmc
Imperial-Time-Order
Literature, Intellectual History, and China’s
Road to Empire
By
Kun Qian
LEIDEN | BOSTON
Cover illustration: “Golden Dragon,” Photographer Melinda Chan, used with permission from Getty Images.
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For Ed and Ethan
∵

Contents
Acknowledgements ix
Note on Romanization and Script xi
List of Figures xii
Introduction 1
Part 1
The Imperial-Time-Order
1 The Imperial-Time-Order: The Eternal Return of the Chinese
Empire 21
Part 2
Time, Unity, and Morality from the Late Qing to Mao’s China
2 Suspended Time: Grounding the Present in the Late Qing 55
3 Split Time: Enlightenment and its Discontent 82
4 Continuous Time: Heroes in the “Protracted War” 115
5 Transitional Time: Defining “the People” and the “Nation” in Mao’s
China 148
Part 3
The Return of “Empire” in the Post-Mao Period
6 Resurgent Time: The Return of “Empire” in Post-Socialist
Representation 183
7 Love or Hate: The First Emperor on the Cinematic Screen 209
8 The Fascinating Empire: Emperors in Contemporary Novels 239
viii contents
9 Tianxia Revisited: Empire and Family on the Television Screen 267
10 Becoming-Minority: Chinese Characteristics in Minority Historical
Fiction 294
Conclusion 329
Bibliography 338
Index 360
Acknowledgements
Fourteen years ago when I first stepped onto US soil to study economics at
Cornell University, I would not have imagined that someday I would become
a scholar in Chinese literature and film; nine years ago when I had just started
paying attention to the Chinese historical dramas on TV as a doctoral student
in the program of East Asian Literature at Cornell, I would not have foreseen
that someday my book would make a contribution to the understanding of
modern Chinese history and historical thinking. A lot has transpired during all
these years, and I owe a great deal to the understanding, inspiration, and help
from professors and friends, whose encouragement and support have unfail-
ingly kept me on the right track even at the most challenging times.
The first person I should thank is my Ph.D. adviser at Cornell, Professor
Edward M. Gunn, who admitted me to Chinese Literature even when I lacked
formal training in the field. Without his confidence in me, my dream to become
a literary scholar would still be a dream. From him I learned to be a positive
person who encourages students to follow their passions in life. He is also the
one who pointed me toward the right directions or crucial materials whenever
my research seemed to be stuck, not to mention reading, commenting on, and
correcting multiple drafts of this book. I am also deeply indebted to my other
committee members: Timothy Murray, Thomas LaMarre, Petrus Liu, and Bruce
Rusk. Professor Murray’s seminars on Gilles Deleuze inspired my discussion of
time, and a semester at McGill University at the invitation of Professor LaMarre
directly influenced the shape of this book. Needless to say, a book of this
nature owes it existence to numerous scholars and writers who have discussed
the topics I focus on, yet the ability to delineate theoretical arguments and select
research materials depends largely on the professional training at the graduate
school. For this I am forever grateful to the professors at Cornell, from whom
I have received not only knowledge in history, literature, philosophy, and the arts,
but also methodology to do research and longstanding inspiration and guid-
ance. Special thanks are due to Sherman Cochran, Jonathan Culler, Dominick
LaCapra, Brett de Bary, Naoki Sakai, Robin McNeil, and Satya Mohanty.
Since its inception, many scholars and friends have read and commented on
various chapters of this book in its different stages. I am particularly indebted
to Evelyn Rawski, Katherine Carlitz, Marcia Landy, Xudong Zhang, Xiaomei
Chen, Dongming Zhang, Soon Ong, Yvonne Howell, Ping Zhu, Li Guo, Minqi Li,
and Xiaoling Shi. Discussions with them have greatly helped clarify my ideas
and improve the quality of the book.
Over the years the wonderful library collections at Cornell and the University
of Pittsburgh have played an indispensible role in my research. I am especially
x acknowledgements
grateful to our East Asian Librarian at Pitt, Haihui Zhang, for her resourceful-
ness and efficient service. Essential support for my research was also provided
by two institutions I have worked in—the University of Richmond and the
University of Pittsburgh. Generous summer fellowships and travel grants have
made my research trips and conference travel possible. In particular, the Asian
Studies Center at Pitt deserves a special mention for facilitating such grants.
It is often a tiring journey to publish an academic book, but the editors at
Brill have made publishing this book a pleasant experience. I am particularly
grateful to Qin Higley and Victoria Menson, whose professional and enthusi-
astic support has made working on my manuscript an enjoyable process. I am
also deeply indebted to the anonymous readers, whose comments and sug-
gestions have further refined my arguments and enhanced the book. A special
note of thanks goes to David Darling for his meticulous and professional copy-
editing, and to my friend Xiaoling Shi for her carefully proofreading the final
manuscript to make the book more presentable.
An early version of Chapter Seven has appeared in Asian Cinema, 20.2 (Fall/
Winter 2009), pp. 39–67. A previous draft of Chapter Nine was included in
Chinese Television in the Twenty-First Century: Entertaining the Nation, edited
by Geng Song and Rouyun Bai, Routledge, 2014. A section of Chapter Five
was published under the title “Biaoyan diguo: wuliu shi niandai de lishi ju”
[表演帝国：五六十年代的历史剧 “Staging Empire: Historical Plays in
Mao’s China”] in a Chinese language journal Xin wenxue pinglun [新文学评论
Modern Chinese Literature Criticism], Vol. 2, (May 2013), pp. 160–168. A portion
of Chapter Four appeared under the title “Gendering National Imagination:
Heroines and the Return of the Foundational Family in Shanghai during the
War of Resistance to Japan” in Frontiers of Literary Studies in China, Vol. 8 (1)
(March 2014), pp. 78–100. I thank the original publishers for granting their per-
mission to reprint.
Upon finishing this book, I found myself often immersed in loving memo-
ries of my father, Qian Zongjiu, who passed away in 2009, just before I gradu-
ated from Cornell. He was the one who first introduced me to the fascinating
world of literature yet strongly discouraged me from pursuing a career in it.
While he finally accepted my changing the course of my life in the US, I am sad-
dened by the fact that he could not witness my graduation and see this book in
print. It is as if my link to the past has been partly severed. On the other hand,
my son Ethan was born last year, offering me a biological connection with the
future. Whenever gazing at my son, I see the magical workings of the universe
that have made time continuous.
August 1, 2015, Pittsburgh