Modern Times (novel)

Wenming Xiaoshi (Chinese: 文明小史), translated into English as Modern Times, is a novel by Li Baojia (Li Boyuan). The novel is a satire of pseudo-reformers in the Qing Dynasty period who found difficulty adjusting to modernization, including its complexities and problems. The novel consist of 60 chapters.[1] It has often been compared to Li's other novel Officialdom Unmasked.

Introduction of the novel (volume one) in a 1915 edition
Modern Times
Chinese文明小史
Literal meaningShort History of Civilization or A Brief History of Modern Times or A Brief History of Enlightenment

From 1903 to 1905 the work was serialized in Fiction Illustrated.[2] The first edition of the entire work was published in 1906.[3] Douglas Lancashire published an English translation, titled "Modern Times," in 1996.[4]

Plot

In Chapter 16 Master Yao takes his son and three disciplines and Shanghai in order to show what Western civilization looks like to them. Master Yao has them explore Shanghai and familiarize themselves with the academic programs at schools in the area.[5]

Characters
  • Master Yao - He is a provincial degree holder with a son[5]

References
  • Doleželová-Velingerová, Milena. "Chapter 38: Fiction from the End of the Empire to the Beginning of the Republic (1897-1916)" in: Mair, Victor H. (editor). The Columbia History of Chinese Literature. Columbia University Press, August 13, 2013. p. 697-731. ISBN 0231528515, 9780231528511.
  • Hegel, Robert E. "The Chinese Novel at the Turn of the Century" (book review). Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews (CLEAR), ISSN 0161-9705, 07/1983, Volume 5, Issue 1/2, pp. 188 – 191
  • PL, "Li Pao-chia." In: Nienhauser, William H. (editor). The Indiana Companion to Traditional Chinese Literature, Part 1. Indiana University Press, 1986. ISBN 0253329833, 9780253329837.
  • Yeh, Wen-hsin. "Shanghai Modernity: Commerce and Culture in a Republican City." in: Wakeman, Frederic E., Jr. and Richard Louis Edmonds (editors). Reappraising Republican China. Oxford University Press, 2000.

Notes
  1. PL, p. 548.
  2. Doleželová-Velingerová, p. 724.
  3. Hegel, p. 189.
  4. Li, Boyuan (1996). Modern Times: A Brief History of Enlightenment. Translated by Lancashire, Douglas. Hong Kong: Chinese University Press. ISBN 962-7255-16-5.
  5. Yeh, p. 128.


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