Проблемы литератур Дальнего Востока. Часть 1

Секция 2 • Panel 2 Проблемы литератур Дальнего Востока. Т. 1. 2018 88 As he often wrote (and edited) for the local newspapers of Changshu since 1913, he also contributed a lot to the development of culture of his native place  1 . Quite popular in the time following establishment of Chinese Republic, he remained in the shade of great Chinese writers of that period and is almost completely forgotten nowadays, though some of his novels have been reprinted recently  2 . As Wu Shuangre was a native of Changshu, some of his novels take place in Changshu, for example the Mirror of Sins and Injustice . He always had special feelings for his native place, which is considered to be one of the strongholds of traditional Chinese culture in late imperial period. It was a native place of several famous men of letters. It is no wonder that Wu Shuangre composed the critical essay of the customs of his native town. Such ethnographic interest also was obviously related to the growth of interest in folk culture and literature on the part of the younger generation of Chinese intellectuals, which resulted in the famous “folklore movement” of that period  3 . The book byWu Shuangre Record of the Haiyu Customs ( Haiyu fengsu ji ⎧㲎仾؇䇠 ) is not widely known among Chinese scholars of literature; however, it certainly deserves attention as a piece of ethnographic literature. The aim of this essay is to demonstrate the value of his work from the historical and cultural points of view, as well as to underline its special features in comparison with other similar texts. The Record of the Haiyu Customs (hereafter abbreviated as the HFJ) was first printed in 1916, and recently reprinted in the collection of Chinese ethnographic descriptions  4 . It was composed at the time, when Wu Shuangre was the most active as a young writer. The place name Haiyu, used in the title of this book, is an ancient name of Changshu area. It refers to the county, which was established on the place of modern Changshu in 283  5 . This area on the south bank of the Yangzi river (Jiangnan) started to develop very early. Changshu is famous for its culture and arts, which basically represent a branch of the culture of the greater Suzhou area.  6 Still, this culture is quite conservative even nowadays. Perhaps this has to do with the 1 See Shen Qiunong ⊸⿻ ߌ , ed., Changshu lao baokan ᑨ⟏㘱ᣕ࠺ (Yangzhou: Guangling shushe, 2007), p. 237. 2 E.g. Luan Meijian Ṯẵ ڕ , ed., Haishang wenxue baijia wenku, vol. 28: Xu Zhenya and Wu Shuangre ⎧к᮷ᆖⲮᇦ᮷ᓃ , 028, ᗀ᷅ӊ੤ৼ✝ধ (Shanghai: Shanghai wenyi chubanshe, 2010). 3 See Chang-tai Hung, Going to the people: Chinese intellectuals and folk literature, 1918–1937 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1985). 4 Zhang Zhi ᕥᲪ , ed., Zhongguo fengsu zhi ѝ഻付؇ᘇ (Yangzhou: Guangling shushe, 2003), vol. 32. The references below are to this reprint edition. 5 The name points to the proximity of this place to the sea, which existed in that time. 6 See, e.g., He Zhenqiu օᥟ⨳ and Yan Ming ೤᰾ , Changshu wenhua gailun: Wu wenhua de dingdian yanjiu ᑨ⟏᮷ॆᾲ䄆 ੤᮷ॆⲴᇊ⛩⹿ウ (Suzhou: Suzhou daxue chubanshe, 2001).