Pride of place

A Dream of Red Mansions, written by Cao Xueqin of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), features more than 400 characters and covers all of Chinese culture. Provided to China Daily

An ancient Chinese masterpiece tops a British list of best Asian novels, but critics say more from country should be on it

A Dream of Red Mansions, a Chinese classic written by Cao Xueqin more than 200 years ago, tops the list of the Ten Best Asian Novels of All Time, compiled by British daily The Telegraph newspaper.

To many readers, it's an unsurprising and natural choice, given the novel's traditional influence and stature. But while the list aims to promote appreciation of a wider range of books, some experts argue the list still lacks much knowledge of Chinese writing as a whole. No modern Chinese novels are included.

"Asian literature offers some of the most beautiful prose ever written. We pick the classics all book fans should read," the UK newspaper's editors write.

To Zhou Ruchang, the late master who devoted his whole life to "Redology", the study of A Dream of Red Mansions, the novel wasn't just a love story of the aristocratic protagonists.

"He believed the novel is an ideal window for foreign readers to know the various aspects of Chinese culture," Zhou's daughter Zhou Lunling says. "He'd always say the novel offers them a shortcut, because it contains almost everything."

She helped her father sort out his research, and says the novel well deserves the top spot on the list. Some precious early editions can be found in Britain, she says, so British people have known the novel for a long time.

Ronald Gray, a linguistics professor at Ohio University, agrees, noting that in the last decade the novel has received increasing attention in the West.

Gray, who has written a soon-to-be-published biography of Cao Xueqin, Wandering Between Two Worlds: The Formative Years of Cao Xue-qin, 1715-1745, believes the novel is a great work for several reasons: "Its philosophical sophistication, encyclopedic scope, brilliant plot and the highly realistic way Cao described the novel's many characters."

Mark S. Ferrara, associate professor of English who teaches a translated version of the novel at State University of New York, says Cao's novel is a masterpiece of world literature and a great introduction to Chinese culture for his US students.

"It covers everything from Chinese medicine to art, poetry, architecture, food, clothing, social classes, gender roles, sexual mores, Manchu and Han customs, imperial rituals, and so much more," Ferrara says. "It mixes historical realism with allegory, biography with social critique, and playfully conflates fiction with truth."

Veteran Australian Sinologist Colin Mackerras says: "It is a superb description of what Chinese society among a certain class was like in those days. It is a wonderful 'novel of manners'."

Chinese culture critic Shi Hang says he's relieved to see One Thousand and One Nights also listed, proving that A Dream of Red Mansions isn't there as a token "because of its old age".

Brian Castro, chair of creative writing and director of J.M. Coetzee Center at the University of Adelaide, says: "It is a rather eclectic list. I presume this depended on the translations." An accomplished writer of Chinese origin himself, Castro says the ancient novel was chosen only "because it is so often used as an example".

Castro says he would certainly like to know more about contemporary Chinese writing.

"Apart from these very visible books (like those by Mo Yan), I really would like some that haven't received the attention of the world," Castro says. "I'm sure there are very many talented authors in China. But we need to hear about them in a way that allows readers to make considered judgments."

He would like to see "a really rigorous journal devoted to such reviews of contemporary Chinese literature in English".

Mackerras thinks the list reflects a lack of appreciation of the Chinese approach to contemporary fiction.

"The kind of people who will read The Telegraph have an inbuilt assumption that it is a major function of a contemporary novel to criticize contemporary society and the politics of the day. They think Chinese novels do that much less than, say, Indian ones," Mackerras says.

But he believes awareness is improving.

"If I compare knowledge and appreciation of Chinese culture in the world now with what it was 50, 30, 20, or even 10 years ago, the situation is much better now," Mackerras says.

Gray says that all of the novels listed have sound English versions; some are even originally written in English by Asian writers. More people from West become interested in Chinese culture, and Chinese movies and novels receive a lot of attention.

In the meantime, the Chinese government is helping publishers promote Chinese writing abroad, and good translations are more important than ever.

Castro says he read Mo Yan's Sandalwood Deaths and enjoyed it, "because the translation was very good".

But he also acknowledges that "what gets translated is often a lottery".

meijia@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily European Weekly 05/23/2014 page26)