A Uyghur Concubine and a French Juggler Resisting Japanese Imperialism

Jue Qing’s Aesopian Language in Manchukuo’s Official Literature

Abstract

Contrary to general knowledge, there was a vibrant literary world in Manchukuo. One of the most accomplished writers in this Japanese puppet state was Jue Qing (1917–62). After the Japanese surrender, he was labeled “a traitor to the Chinese nation” and, until recently, his fiction works were erased from the history of Chinese literature. However, some of his works seem to express anti-colonial sentiments. This paper analyses two stories from 1943, namely “Xiang Fei”(The Fragrant Concubine) and “Yiren Yang Kun”(The Acrobat Yang Kun). It focuses on their intertextual references to the Chinese legend of Xiang Fei and a story about a juggler by Anatole France (1844 –1924), respectively. This study suggests that Jue Qing uses Aesopian language in these stories to bypass official censorship. More specifically, it explores how he uses intertextual references and other rhetorical devices to camouflage praise for resistance against the Japanese coloniser and, at the same time, to draw the reader’s attention to it.

與常識相反，滿洲國的文學世界曾經非常活躍。在這個日本傀儡政權裡，爵青（1917–1962）是最有成就的作家之一。日本投降後，他被貼上“漢奸”的標籤，而到了最近，他的小說作品也從中國文學史上被抹去了。但是，他的一些作品似乎表達了反殖民的態度。本文分析了兩篇1943年出版的小說，《香妃》與《藝人楊崑》。本文的重點在於它們對中國香妃傳說以及阿納托爾·法朗士（1844–1924）的《聖母的江湖藝人》的互文引用。本研究試圖指出，爵青使用伊索式語言來繞過殖民地文化審查制度。具體而言，本文探討了他如何使用互文參考和其他修辭手法以掩飾起其作品的反日本殖民主義批判，而同時引起讀者的注意。