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(Redirected from Jiang Rong)
'''Wolf Totem''' is a partially autobiographical novel about the experiences of a young student from Beijing who finds himself sent down to the countryside of Inner Mongolia in 1967, at the height of China's Cultural Revolution. The author wrote the book under a pseudonym; his true identity is not publicly known.[1]
''Wolf Totem'' is narrated by protagonist Chen Zhen, a young man in his 20s who, like the author, left his native Beijing to work in Inner Mongolia during the cultural revolution.[2] Through descriptions of folk traditions, rituals, and life on the steppe, ''Wolf Totem'' compares the culture of the ethnic Mongolian nomads and the Han Chinese farmers who settle in their territory, praising the "freedom, independence, respect, unyielding before hardship, teamwork and competition" of the former and criticising the "autocratic, sheeplike" nature of the latter. The book condemns the agricultural collectivisation imposed on the nomads by the settlers, and the ecological disasters it caused, and ends with a 60-page "call to action" disconnected from the main thread of the novel. The author states that he was inspired to begin writing ''Wolf Totem'' by an accident: he ignored the advice of the clan chief of the group of nomads with whom he was staying, and accidentally stumbled across a pack of wolves. Terrified, he watched as the wolves chased a herd of sheep off a cliff, then dragged their corpses into a cave. From then on, fascinated by the wolves, he began to study them and their relationship with the nomads more closely, and even attempted to domesticate one.[3]
''Wolf Totem'' exhibited strong sales almost immediately after its release, selling 50,000 copies in two weeks; pirated editions began to appear just five days after the book first appeared on shelves.[4] As of March 2006, it had sold over four million copies in China, and had also been broadcast in audiobook format in twelve parts during prime time on China Radio International. Despite the author's refusal to participate in any marketing activities, deals for adaptations of the novel into other media and translations into other languages have set various financial records. In August 2004, the Beijing Forbidden City Film Company purchased the movie rights to the novel for one million RMB; the ''Beijing Youth Daily'' described the movie version as China's highest-budget film as of 2005, and noted that the same special effects team which worked on ''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy had been contracted to work on the special effects for ''Wolf Totem''. The production team are aiming to complete the film in time for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.''Beijing Youth Daily'' 2005-06-07 Jiang also released a children's edition of the book in July 2005, cut down from the 650 pages (540,000 characters) of the original (including a 60-page, 50,000 character "call to action" at the end) to roughly one-third the length.[5] Overseas, Penguin Books paid US$100,000 for the world-wide English rights, setting a record for the highest amount ever paid for the translation rights to a Chinese book; an unspecified Tokyo publisher paid US$300,000 for the rights to publish a manga adaptation, and Bertelsmann bought the German-language rights for €20,000. The author himself is looking forward to the translations; in his own words, he believes that "in the West they may understand [my book] more fully" than in China.[6]
A number of other writers have taken advantage of the author's anonymity to write fake sequels to ''Wolf Totem'', including two books both entitled ''Wolf Totem 2'', as well as the 250,000-character long ''Great Wolf of the Plains''[7] all with the imprint of the Changjiang Arts Publishing House. As a result, in April 2007, the author issued a statement which denounced all such "sequels" as fraudulent; he indicated that he was doing research for another book, but would not be publishing anything new in the short term.[8]
'Jiang Rong' is the pseudonym used by the author of ''Wolf Totem''. Though he often agrees to give interviews to both domestic and foreign media, he refuses to allow pictures of himself to be published. Until 2006, only five people even knew his true identity; he never revealed his real name to the media, though his identity became known to China's Ministry of Public Security. He was born in 1945 or 1946; his parents fought with the Communist Party of China against the Empire of Japan during the Second Sino-Japanese War, and attained high positions in government after the establishment of the People's Republic of China. He enjoyed reading and watching foreign movies from an early age.
In 1967, as a 21-year old high school graduate, Jiang volunteered to go to East Ujimqin Banner in Xilin Gol League, Inner Mongolia, where he remained for eleven years, until the age of 33. By his own admission, he chose the remote location of Inner Mongolia rather than the more popular Heilongjiang in Northeastern China so that he could bring his books with him; he feared that if we went to Heilongjiang, he would have to live in army barracks, and might get his books confiscated. He returned to Beijing in 1978, and entered the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in 1979. He began thinking about and writing up the ideas behind ''Wolf Totem'' as early as 1971, while still in Inner Mongolia, but did not produce a complete first draft until 1997, and only submitted the final draft to his publisher at the end of 2003.[4] In between, he spent two years in jail in the aftermath of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. His hardest work on the novel was done in the final six years; his wife, herself a famous novelist, described how he "locked himself in his office every day and refused to tell me what he was doing".
In terms of his political views, he describes himself as a "critical left-wing thinker", and remains a supporter of democracy and individualism; in a 2005 interview with British newspaper ''The Daily Telegraph'', he expressed his belief that China risked becoming "like Nazi Germany" if it did not further democratise. He also indicated his admiration for Li Yuchun, a 2005 participant in the Chinese televised singing competition ''Super Girl'' whose idiosyncratic style and choice of songs gained her popularity and ultimately led her to win first prize in the contest; he described her as a "good symbol for Chinese society". Authors he names as having influenced his work include Balzac, Tolstoy, Jack London, and Jane Austen.
Despite Jiang's stated refusal to attend any awards ceremonies or participate in any publicity activities, ''Wolf Totem'' has received more than 10 literary prizes, as well as other recognitions, including:
★ Named as one of the "Ten Best Chinese-language Books of 2004" by international newsweekly ''Yazhou Zhoukan''.[10]
★ Nominee for the 2nd "21st Century Ding Jun Semiannual Literary Prize" in 2005[11]
However, ''Wolf Totem'' has also been the subject of several notable criticisms. German sinologist Wolfgang Kubin described the book as "fascist", and asserted that the ideas expressed therein had caused China to "lose face" in Germany.[12]
★ First edition: 狼图腾, , Rong, Jiang, Changjiang Arts Publishing House, , ISBN 7535427308
★ Further editions:
★
★ 狼圖騰, , Rong, Jiang, Lee Man Publication, , ISBN 9629881292
★
★ 狼圖騰, , Rong, Jiang, Feng Yun Publishing, , ISBN 986146123X
★ Children's editions:
★
★ 小狼小狼 (Little Wolfie), , Rong, Jiang, Changjiang Literature and Arts Publishing House, , ISBN 7535430678
★
★ 小狼小狼 (Little Wolfie), , Rong, Jiang, Feng Yun Publishing, , ISBN 9861462406
★ Korean edition (in 3 parts):
★
★ 랑 1: 초원의 바람 (Wolf 1: Wind on the Plains), , Rong, Jiang, Dongbang Media, , ISBN 8990488532
★
★ 랑 2: 푸른 늑대 (Wolf 2: The Blue Wolf), , Rong, Jiang, Dongbang Media, , ISBN 8990488540
★
★ 랑 3: 영혼의 부름 (Wolf 3: The Cry of the Soul), , Rong, Jiang, Dongbang Media, , ISBN 8990488559
★ English edition: Penguin Books, March 2008 (forthcoming).[13]
★ German edition: Bertelsmann/Random House, forthcoming.
★ French edition: Eurane, forthcoming.
★ Portuguese edition: Editora Sextante, forthcoming.
★ Dutch edition: Prometheus, forthcoming.
★ Italian edition: Mondadori, forthcoming.
★ Greek edition: Psichogios, forthcoming.
★ Hebrew edition: Kinneret, forthcoming.
★ Turkish edition: Dogan Kitapcilik, forthcoming.
★ Spanish edition: Alfaguara, forthcoming.
★ Catalan edition: RBA Libros, forthcoming.
★ Russian edition: Mir Knigi, forthcoming.
★ Hungarian edition: Magveto, forthcoming.
★ Romanian edition: Curtea Veche, forthcoming.
★ Slovenian edition: Zabzba Mladinska Knjiga, forthcoming.
★ Zhang Chengzhi, a senior of Jiang's at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences who was also sent down to Ujimqin Banner during the Cultural Revolution and rose to fame through his writings about Inner Mongolia
1. ''The New York Times'' 2005-11-03
2. Jiang 2004
3. ''Der Speigel'' 2006-03-21
4. ''Xinhua'' 2004-05-26
5. ''Sina News'' 2005-08-10
6. ''The Daily Telegraph'' 2005-10-29
7. Chinese title: 草原狼王. ISBN 7807013370
8. ''Xinhua'' 2007-04-06
9. ''Xinhua'' 2004-05-26
10. ''Yazhou Zhoukan'' 2005-01-16
11. ''Sina News'' 2005-04-05
12. ''Deutsche Welle'' 2006-11-26
13. Penguin Books 2007: 25
★ 《指环王》班底助阵特中国电影《狼图腾》 ("Lord of the Rings" team to assist with special effects for Chinese movie ''Wolf Totem'') Ye Cheng
★ Best-seller urges Chinese to release their inner wolf Richard Spencer
★ A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing: Beijing's Unwanted Best Seller Jürgen Kremb
★ 德国汉学权威另一只眼看现当代中国文学 (Authoritative German sinologist looks at contemporary Chinese literature with a different eye)
★ A Novel, by Someone, Takes China by Storm Howard French
★ 第二届“21世纪鼎钧双年文学奖”揭晓 (Announcement of the 2nd '21st Century Ding Jun Semiannual Literary Prize')
★ 姜戎将出《狼图腾》少儿版《小狼小狼》 (Jiang Rong to release ''Wolf Totem'' children's version ''Little Wolfie'')
★ 姜戎：用半条命著《狼图腾》 (Jiang Rong: "I spent half my life writing ''Wolf Totem''") Fei Wu
★ 姜戎发表郑重声明揭露《狼图腾》伪书 (Jiang Rong issues serious statement denouncing ''Wolf Totem'' fakes) Rong Jiang
★ 2004亞洲週刊十大好書揭曉 (Announcement of Yazhou Zhoukan's 10 Best Chinese Books of 2004 Hailing Zhang
★
'''Wolf Totem''' is a partially autobiographical novel about the experiences of a young student from Beijing who finds himself sent down to the countryside of Inner Mongolia in 1967, at the height of China's Cultural Revolution. The author wrote the book under a pseudonym; his true identity is not publicly known.[1]
| Contents |
| Themes |
| Marketing |
| The author |
| Awards and critical reaction |
| Editions and translations |
| See also |
| References |
| Notes |
| Sources |
Themes
''Wolf Totem'' is narrated by protagonist Chen Zhen, a young man in his 20s who, like the author, left his native Beijing to work in Inner Mongolia during the cultural revolution.[2] Through descriptions of folk traditions, rituals, and life on the steppe, ''Wolf Totem'' compares the culture of the ethnic Mongolian nomads and the Han Chinese farmers who settle in their territory, praising the "freedom, independence, respect, unyielding before hardship, teamwork and competition" of the former and criticising the "autocratic, sheeplike" nature of the latter. The book condemns the agricultural collectivisation imposed on the nomads by the settlers, and the ecological disasters it caused, and ends with a 60-page "call to action" disconnected from the main thread of the novel. The author states that he was inspired to begin writing ''Wolf Totem'' by an accident: he ignored the advice of the clan chief of the group of nomads with whom he was staying, and accidentally stumbled across a pack of wolves. Terrified, he watched as the wolves chased a herd of sheep off a cliff, then dragged their corpses into a cave. From then on, fascinated by the wolves, he began to study them and their relationship with the nomads more closely, and even attempted to domesticate one.[3]
Marketing
''Wolf Totem'' exhibited strong sales almost immediately after its release, selling 50,000 copies in two weeks; pirated editions began to appear just five days after the book first appeared on shelves.[4] As of March 2006, it had sold over four million copies in China, and had also been broadcast in audiobook format in twelve parts during prime time on China Radio International. Despite the author's refusal to participate in any marketing activities, deals for adaptations of the novel into other media and translations into other languages have set various financial records. In August 2004, the Beijing Forbidden City Film Company purchased the movie rights to the novel for one million RMB; the ''Beijing Youth Daily'' described the movie version as China's highest-budget film as of 2005, and noted that the same special effects team which worked on ''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy had been contracted to work on the special effects for ''Wolf Totem''. The production team are aiming to complete the film in time for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.''Beijing Youth Daily'' 2005-06-07 Jiang also released a children's edition of the book in July 2005, cut down from the 650 pages (540,000 characters) of the original (including a 60-page, 50,000 character "call to action" at the end) to roughly one-third the length.[5] Overseas, Penguin Books paid US$100,000 for the world-wide English rights, setting a record for the highest amount ever paid for the translation rights to a Chinese book; an unspecified Tokyo publisher paid US$300,000 for the rights to publish a manga adaptation, and Bertelsmann bought the German-language rights for €20,000. The author himself is looking forward to the translations; in his own words, he believes that "in the West they may understand [my book] more fully" than in China.[6]
A number of other writers have taken advantage of the author's anonymity to write fake sequels to ''Wolf Totem'', including two books both entitled ''Wolf Totem 2'', as well as the 250,000-character long ''Great Wolf of the Plains''[7] all with the imprint of the Changjiang Arts Publishing House. As a result, in April 2007, the author issued a statement which denounced all such "sequels" as fraudulent; he indicated that he was doing research for another book, but would not be publishing anything new in the short term.[8]
The author
'Jiang Rong' is the pseudonym used by the author of ''Wolf Totem''. Though he often agrees to give interviews to both domestic and foreign media, he refuses to allow pictures of himself to be published. Until 2006, only five people even knew his true identity; he never revealed his real name to the media, though his identity became known to China's Ministry of Public Security. He was born in 1945 or 1946; his parents fought with the Communist Party of China against the Empire of Japan during the Second Sino-Japanese War, and attained high positions in government after the establishment of the People's Republic of China. He enjoyed reading and watching foreign movies from an early age.
In 1967, as a 21-year old high school graduate, Jiang volunteered to go to East Ujimqin Banner in Xilin Gol League, Inner Mongolia, where he remained for eleven years, until the age of 33. By his own admission, he chose the remote location of Inner Mongolia rather than the more popular Heilongjiang in Northeastern China so that he could bring his books with him; he feared that if we went to Heilongjiang, he would have to live in army barracks, and might get his books confiscated. He returned to Beijing in 1978, and entered the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in 1979. He began thinking about and writing up the ideas behind ''Wolf Totem'' as early as 1971, while still in Inner Mongolia, but did not produce a complete first draft until 1997, and only submitted the final draft to his publisher at the end of 2003.[4] In between, he spent two years in jail in the aftermath of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. His hardest work on the novel was done in the final six years; his wife, herself a famous novelist, described how he "locked himself in his office every day and refused to tell me what he was doing".
In terms of his political views, he describes himself as a "critical left-wing thinker", and remains a supporter of democracy and individualism; in a 2005 interview with British newspaper ''The Daily Telegraph'', he expressed his belief that China risked becoming "like Nazi Germany" if it did not further democratise. He also indicated his admiration for Li Yuchun, a 2005 participant in the Chinese televised singing competition ''Super Girl'' whose idiosyncratic style and choice of songs gained her popularity and ultimately led her to win first prize in the contest; he described her as a "good symbol for Chinese society". Authors he names as having influenced his work include Balzac, Tolstoy, Jack London, and Jane Austen.
Awards and critical reaction
Despite Jiang's stated refusal to attend any awards ceremonies or participate in any publicity activities, ''Wolf Totem'' has received more than 10 literary prizes, as well as other recognitions, including:
★ Named as one of the "Ten Best Chinese-language Books of 2004" by international newsweekly ''Yazhou Zhoukan''.[10]
★ Nominee for the 2nd "21st Century Ding Jun Semiannual Literary Prize" in 2005[11]
However, ''Wolf Totem'' has also been the subject of several notable criticisms. German sinologist Wolfgang Kubin described the book as "fascist", and asserted that the ideas expressed therein had caused China to "lose face" in Germany.[12]
Editions and translations
The cover of Part 1 of the Korean translation
★ First edition: 狼图腾, , Rong, Jiang, Changjiang Arts Publishing House, , ISBN 7535427308
★ Further editions:
★
★ 狼圖騰, , Rong, Jiang, Lee Man Publication, , ISBN 9629881292
★
★ 狼圖騰, , Rong, Jiang, Feng Yun Publishing, , ISBN 986146123X
★ Children's editions:
★
★ 小狼小狼 (Little Wolfie), , Rong, Jiang, Changjiang Literature and Arts Publishing House, , ISBN 7535430678
★
★ 小狼小狼 (Little Wolfie), , Rong, Jiang, Feng Yun Publishing, , ISBN 9861462406
★ Korean edition (in 3 parts):
★
★ 랑 1: 초원의 바람 (Wolf 1: Wind on the Plains), , Rong, Jiang, Dongbang Media, , ISBN 8990488532
★
★ 랑 2: 푸른 늑대 (Wolf 2: The Blue Wolf), , Rong, Jiang, Dongbang Media, , ISBN 8990488540
★
★ 랑 3: 영혼의 부름 (Wolf 3: The Cry of the Soul), , Rong, Jiang, Dongbang Media, , ISBN 8990488559
★ English edition: Penguin Books, March 2008 (forthcoming).[13]
★ German edition: Bertelsmann/Random House, forthcoming.
★ French edition: Eurane, forthcoming.
★ Portuguese edition: Editora Sextante, forthcoming.
★ Dutch edition: Prometheus, forthcoming.
★ Italian edition: Mondadori, forthcoming.
★ Greek edition: Psichogios, forthcoming.
★ Hebrew edition: Kinneret, forthcoming.
★ Turkish edition: Dogan Kitapcilik, forthcoming.
★ Spanish edition: Alfaguara, forthcoming.
★ Catalan edition: RBA Libros, forthcoming.
★ Russian edition: Mir Knigi, forthcoming.
★ Hungarian edition: Magveto, forthcoming.
★ Romanian edition: Curtea Veche, forthcoming.
★ Slovenian edition: Zabzba Mladinska Knjiga, forthcoming.
See also
★ Zhang Chengzhi, a senior of Jiang's at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences who was also sent down to Ujimqin Banner during the Cultural Revolution and rose to fame through his writings about Inner Mongolia
References
Notes
1. ''The New York Times'' 2005-11-03
2. Jiang 2004
3. ''Der Speigel'' 2006-03-21
4. ''Xinhua'' 2004-05-26
5. ''Sina News'' 2005-08-10
6. ''The Daily Telegraph'' 2005-10-29
7. Chinese title: 草原狼王. ISBN 7807013370
8. ''Xinhua'' 2007-04-06
9. ''Xinhua'' 2004-05-26
10. ''Yazhou Zhoukan'' 2005-01-16
11. ''Sina News'' 2005-04-05
12. ''Deutsche Welle'' 2006-11-26
13. Penguin Books 2007: 25
Sources
★ 《指环王》班底助阵特中国电影《狼图腾》 ("Lord of the Rings" team to assist with special effects for Chinese movie ''Wolf Totem'') Ye Cheng
★ Best-seller urges Chinese to release their inner wolf Richard Spencer
★ A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing: Beijing's Unwanted Best Seller Jürgen Kremb
★ 德国汉学权威另一只眼看现当代中国文学 (Authoritative German sinologist looks at contemporary Chinese literature with a different eye)
★ A Novel, by Someone, Takes China by Storm Howard French
★ 第二届“21世纪鼎钧双年文学奖”揭晓 (Announcement of the 2nd '21st Century Ding Jun Semiannual Literary Prize')
★ 姜戎将出《狼图腾》少儿版《小狼小狼》 (Jiang Rong to release ''Wolf Totem'' children's version ''Little Wolfie'')
★ 姜戎：用半条命著《狼图腾》 (Jiang Rong: "I spent half my life writing ''Wolf Totem''") Fei Wu
★ 姜戎发表郑重声明揭露《狼图腾》伪书 (Jiang Rong issues serious statement denouncing ''Wolf Totem'' fakes) Rong Jiang
★ 2004亞洲週刊十大好書揭曉 (Announcement of Yazhou Zhoukan's 10 Best Chinese Books of 2004 Hailing Zhang
★
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