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In Shanghai, a prism of fiction reveals truth
November 3, 2006 8:07 PM
Copyright The International Herald Tribune
By Howard W. French
The New York Times
Writers have an honored history of staying ahead of convention. Whether through muckraking, parody, irony or dissidence, fiction maintains its relevance, and when it’s good, its prescience, too.
This point was brought home to me recently, when in the midst of a major, continuing corruption scandal here with huge political overtones, I discovered a new author.
Watching the Shanghai scandal unfold, one conclusion seemed inescapable: The authorities were struggling to have it both ways - to take credit for a cleanup and yet to decide at their own convenience just how far it would go.
For a couple of days, the news was splashed around abundantly that a crack team of Communist Party investigators had descended on Shanghai to root out high- level corruption. The city’s powerful party secretary, Chen Liangyu, was cast as the fall guy and hustled off into detention.
A sprinkling of juicy details was allowed to circulate to reinforce the picture that Chen was indeed rotten.
The media reported that he maintained 11 known mistresses, for example, and that he controlled bank accounts that contained at least $80 million.
When the authorities figured the people had gotten the picture - just the right picture - discussion of the scandal was declared out of bounds. Even bloggers were warned off mentioning the central government, invoking any kind of political struggle or satirizing the scandal - warnings taken by some as a sign that there was a lot more to hide than had been revealed.
As rumors of more scandal investigations spread to Beijing, Tianjin and other cities, Chinese news junkies would mostly have to make do with stale speeches about the imperative need to stop corruption, and with displays of high-level party solidarity. The last generation of leaders was even trotted out of their usually discreet retirement to show that all who mattered were truly aboard.
Just as the news ban was put in place, I happened to be starting in on a novel, “When Red Is Black,” by Qiu Xiaolong.
Qiu, a native of Shanghai who lives in St. Louis, writes detective stories that take place in his hometown; in other words, entertainments.
Or so I thought, until I got a few pages into it.
In the guise of a simple detective story, “When Red Is Black” is a very effective account, albeit fiction, of Shanghai’s recent history. One page- turning passage early on describes a deal among senior government officials, organized crime groups and developers to build up a section of prime real estate in Shanghai.
Even the party secretary is involved.
Together, all boast about how they are going to sell their projects politically and restore Shanghai to its reputed status as the “Paris of the East” or the “Oriental Pearl.”
“Of course, the city government is all for the project,” says a character named Gu, who is a developer. “When the New World goes up, it will not only enhance the image of our great city, but also bring in huge tax revenues.”
A moment later, he continues: “Well, I’ll let you in on a secret. I applied for use of the land for cultural preservation. One of two small museums may be included in the concept as well. A museum for ancient coins is one idea; I have already been contacted by someone. But most of the new Shikumen houses will be for commercial use. Really high-end, luxury properties.”
In miniature, the passage would be taken by many Shanghainese as a fair description of how their city has been developed in such a hurry, with poor people being evicted from central locations to make way for luxurious apartment and office complexes built after lucrative sweetheart deals.
It is particularly evocative of the development of Xintiandi, a pioneer development in post-reform Shanghai in which an old, historic area was razed to build a new neighborhood of Shikumen, or stone-gated brick structures designed to look historic, and to house high-end shops and restaurants.
I cast about to learn more about Qiu Xiaolong and found he had recently been interviewed in the United States on National Public Radio.
“Everywhere, at every level you meet with different kinds of corruption,” he said of his homeland, to which he returns from time to time. “What worries me is that it is more and more out of control. It is a really big problem facing China right now, and I cannot write about modern China without touching upon it.”
Qiu’s detective books have never been banned in China, only censored. “Officials say, ‘No, this cannot have happened in Shanghai,’” he said, explaining how the city had been given another name in the Chinese editions.
“They’ve changed a lot,” Qiu added. “Some paragraphs or sentences they simply cut.”
For the complete article, please see the link below:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/11/02/news/letter.php
Posted at 8:07 PM
