Ziye
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 A copy of Ziye (Midnight) from the National Library of China | |
| Author | Mao Dun |
|---|---|
| Original title | 子夜 |
| Working title | 夕阳 (Xiyang) |
| Genre | Realism |
| Set in | Shanghai |
| Publication date | 1933 |
| Publication place | China |
Ziye (子夜), or known by its English translated title as Midnight (Midnight: A Romance of China, 1930), is a 1933 novel by Chinese author Mao Dun. It is a realist depiction of life in contemporary Shanghai.[1][2] In addition to the full edition, there were also abridged editions of the novel in publication.[3] The novel depicts the wealth and modernity of modern-Shanghai, influenced by foreign colonialism and capitalism; however, Western modernity frightens the protagonist's father, who is a member of the Chinese landed gentry from the countryside.[4]
Mao Dun depicts the modernity of Shanghai with "purple" prose, like "three 1930-model Citroens", electric lights, Browning rifles, and "Grafton gauze" flannel suits. The novel also uses English terms like "beauty parlors" and a "neon" sign with the words "Light, Heat, Power!", which appears on the first page. The other English is from two plays by Shakespeare: Love's Labour's Lost and The Tempest, as well as Scott's Ivanhoe and three references: a headline, an expression, and the Roman Emperor Nero.
Plot
[edit]Midnight portrays the unraveling world of Wu Sun-fu, a leading Shanghai industrialist. His family came from the provinces, with his father representing the old China lost in turmoil. The Depression, the Chinese civil war, and strikes force alliance with foreign capitalists.[5]
Legacy
[edit]Midnight is often considered Mao Dun's representative work.[6] Old Shanghai's cosmopolitanism is depicted in detail.[7] Mao Dun was later commemorated with the Mao Dun Literature Prize.[8]
References
[edit]- ↑ Forges, Alexander Des (2007-07-31). Mediasphere Shanghai: The Aesthetics of Cultural Production. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-3081-6.
- ↑ Kaminski, Johannes (2023-12-21). Lives and Deaths of Werther: Interpretation, Translation, and Adaptation in Europe and East Asia. Liverpool University Press. p. 149. ISBN 978-1-80596-100-0.
- ↑ "Abridged Versions of Mao Dun's Ziye (Midnight)" (PDF). fphil.uniba.sk. Retrieved 2020-05-16.
- ↑ Wachtel, Andrew (2001). Alternative Modernities - Andrew Wachtel - Google Books. ISBN 9780822327141. Retrieved 2020-05-14.
- ↑ Glaser, Amelia M.; Lee, Steven S. (2020-03-11). Comintern Aesthetics. University of Toronto Press. p. 96. ISBN 978-1-4875-0465-6.
- ↑ 台灣文學英譯叢刊（No. 40）: 白先勇專輯. 國立臺灣大學出版中心. 2017-07-08. p. 125. ISBN 978-986-350-240-1.
- ↑ Ping, Lei (2025-09-18). Shanghai Mundane: Survival and Revival of Bourgeois Sentiments under Chinese Socialism. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. ISBN 978-1-9787-6316-6.
- ↑ Ying, Li-hua (2021-11-15). Historical Dictionary of Modern Chinese Literature. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. ISBN 979-8-8818-7640-1.
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