Tapestry of Light: Aesthetic Afterlives of the Cultural Revolution

159 Pages·2014·2.14 MB·English

by  Yiju Huang

Tapestry of Light
Ideas, History, and Modern China
Edited by
Ban Wang, Stanford University
Wang Hui, Tsinghua University
VOLUME 10
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/ihmc
Tapestry of Light
Aesthetic Afterlives of the Cultural Revolution
By
Yiju Huang
LEIDEN | BOSTON
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Huang, Yiju.
 Tapestry of light : aesthetic afterlives of the Cultural Revolution / by Yiju Huang.
  pages cm
 Includes bibliographical references.
 ISBN 978-90-04-28553-8 (hardback : acid-free paper) — ISBN 978-90-04-28559-0 (e-book) 1. China—
Intellectual life—1976– 2. China—History—Cultural Revolution, 1966–1976—Influence. 3. Aesthetics—
Social aspects—China. 4. Arts and society—China. 5. Arts, Chinese—History—20th century. 6. Arts,
Chinese—History—21st century. 7. Chinese literature—20th century—History and criticism. 8. Chinese
literature—21st century—History and criticism. 9. Motion pictures—China—History—20th century.
10. Motion pictures—China—History—21st century. I. Title.
 DS779.23.H83 2015
 951.05’6—dc23
2014036721
This publication has been typeset in the multilingual “Brill” typeface. With over 5,100 characters covering
Latin, ipa, Greek, and Cyrillic, this typeface is especially suitable for use in the humanities.
For more information, please see www.brill.com/brill-typeface.
issn 1875-9394
isbn 978-90-04-28553-8 (hardback)
isbn 978-90-04-28559-0 (e-book)

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This book is printed on acid-free paper.
For my parents
∵

Contents
Acknowledgments  ix
1 Introduction: Embroidering a Tapestry of Hope  1
2 Familial Secrets: Mao’s Famine in Hong Ying’s Daughter of the
River  17
3 Aesthetic of Heterogeneity: Roots in Han Shaogong’s Theoretical and
Literary Writings  45
4 Ghostly Vision: Zhang Xiaogang’s “Bloodline: The Big Family”  75
5 Protean Youth: Redemptive Poetics in In the Heat of the Sun and
The Postmodern Life of My Aunt  100
Coda: Ba Jin: Toward an Ethical Relation to History  129
Bibliography  137
Index  148

Acknowledgments
Much is owed to many.
I am deeply grateful to my teacher Gary G. Xu, who has provided me with
unyielding support and essential training in Chinese literature. He instilled in
me the intellectual confidence by simply having faith in me. My heartfelt grati-
tude also goes to my other mentors at the University of Illinois at Urbana-
Champaign. Michael Rothberg’s boundless knowledge of trauma studies,
Rania Huntington’s attention to details and ghostly matters, and the late
David G. Goodman’s prompt and incisive critiques have guided and inspired
me to become a better thinker. This book bears the traces of their teachings
that have influenced it.
Yiching Wu has encouraged me and offered constructive suggestions for
post-dissertation revisions. Warm thanks are due to him for his time, kindness,
and expertise on the Cultural Revolution. I am grateful to Qin Higley for taking
an interest in this project. I am also thankful to the anonymous readers for
their thoughtful comments for strengthening this project and Debra Soled’s
impeccable work.
At Bowling Green State University, I am indebted to my students and col-
leagues, especially those who participated in the Trauma Cluster. Christina
Guenther, Edgar Landgraf, Jeremy Wallach, and Esther A. Clinton have helped
me to think through the complexities of trauma and cultural remembrance
during my process of bringing this book to fruition. I also thank my friends
E.K. Tan, Tonglu Li, Yanjie Wang, Mei-Hsuan Chiang, I-In Chiang, Chia-Rong
Wu, Eric Dalle, and Junjie Luo, who have been invaluable interlocutors and a
serene source of happiness in my sometimes-hectic academic life.
If there is a single debt of gratitude, it is to my parents, Huang Shengchen
and Gao Shaoxuan who first instilled in me the joy of reading. Without their
affection, nurturance, and wise advice, I simply and literally do not know
where I would be. In the spirit of love, I dedicate Tapestry of Light to them.
Finally, my deepest gratitude goes to my husband Martin and my
daughter Ruru for their continual inspiration and enduring love, which has
sustained me.