Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress
Encyclopedia
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress is a semi-autobiographical novel
written by Dai Sijie
, and published in 2000 in French and in English in 2001. It is the author's first published novel. Its original French title is Balzac et la petite tailleuse chinoise. A film based on his novel
was released in 2002, directed by Dai himself.
. They are sent to the Mountain of the Phoenix of the Sky near Tibet
, because their doctor parents have been declared "enemies of the people" and "reactionaries of the bourgeoisie" by the Communist state. There, while compelled to work in the coal mines and with the rice crop, they are captivated by and fall in love with the daughter of the local tailor, the Little Seamstress. At the same time, they meet Four-Eyes, the son of a prominent poet, who also is being reeducated. Although he is succeeding in reeducation, he is also hiding forbidden French, Russian, and English novels. The boys convince Four-Eyes to lend them a book, Ursule Mirouët
by Honoré de Balzac
. Later, when Four-Eyes's mother comes to take him back to the city, they steal the books.
These books inspire the narrator (called Ma in the film version) and Luo to use them to educate the Little Seamstress, whom they consider uncultured. Luo and the Seamstress's romantic relationship grows as Ma silently (and jealously) watches on the sidelines. This relationship, however, results in the Seamstress's unwanted pregnancy. Ma helps her to arrange an illegal abortion while Luo is away. Throughout the novel, the farming village of Phoenix Mountain delights in the storytelling of the two teenagers. They even are excused from work for a few days to see films at Yong Jing, a nearby town, and later relate the story to the townspeople. One of these films, a North Korean film entitled The Little Flower Seller and identified by the narrator as "a propaganda film like no other" (39), closely resembles the 1972 Korean film version of The Flower Girl
(1972) in the melodramatic scene of the death of the eponymous character's mother. Also notable among the stories they retell is Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo
. Ma mostly assists with the storytelling because Luo is more capable of moving the audience. Particularly inspirational to the narrator is the translation by Fu Lei
of Romain Rolland's Jean-Christophe
, which the narrator credits as giving him a newfound sense of individualism. Other talents and possessions of the two boys at which the townspeople wonder include Luo's clock and Ma's violin (on which they love to hear "Mozart Is Thinking of Chairman Mao
," their improvised, Communist-friendly name for a Mozart Sonata).
Later, Luo's mission of educating the Little Seamstress backfires. At first, however, it seems as if his plan is working perfectly – she adopts the city accent and begins making modern clothing. Yet, one day, she leaves without saying farewell. This sudden change for the two characters leaves them heartbroken and plays a huge role in both of their lives.
The author emphasizes the novel as more of a work of fiction rather than a critique of the Cultural Revolution: "It's nothing but a love story.” He continues, “The stealing books part is true and the experience of reading stories to farmers is also true."
In answer to criticism on why Western literature, rather than works of classical Chinese literature, seem to save the characters, Dai has responded that classical literature would have been too complex and too removed from the Seamstress’s life to have captivated her: “We have masterpieces in our literature, but the stories that they recount remain extremely classical. Emperors, queens, mandarins, this was really too far removed from the little seamstress. Balzac was much more accessible, because more universal.” Dai states that Chinese authorities who banned his book and then the film "did not accept that Western literature could change a Chinese girl. I explained that classical literature is a universal heritage, but to no avail."
Bloom, Michelle E. "Contemporary Franco-Chinese Cinema: Translation, Citation and Imitation in Dai Sijie’s Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress and Tsai Ming-Liang’s What Time is it There?" Quarterly Review of Film and Video, 22:311–325, 2005.
Chevaillier, Flore. "Commercialism and Cultural Misreading in Dai Sijie's Balzac et la petite tailleuse chinoise." Forum for Modern Language Studies, 2011 Jan; 47 (1): 60-74.
Coltvet, Ben McDonald. Review in Christian Century, 1/2/2002, Vol. 119 Issue 1, p 37. Abstract available at http://www.christiancentury.org/reviews/2011-05/balzac-and-little-chinese-seamstress-dai-sijie
McCall, Ian. "French Literature And Film In The USSR And Mao's China: Intertexts In Makine's Au Temps Du Fleuve Amour And Dai Sijie's Balzac Et La Petite Tailleuse Chinoise." Romance Studies, Vol. 24 (2), July 2006.
Riding, Alan. "Artistic Odyssey: Film to Fiction to Film." New York Times, 7/27/2005, p 1.
Schwartz, Lynne Sharon. "In the Beginning Was the Book." New Leader, Sep/Oct2001, Vol. 84 Issue 5, p 23.
Silvester, Rosalind. "Genre and Image in Francophone Chinese Works." Contemporary French and Francophone Studies
Vol. 10, No. 4, December 2006, pp. 367–375.
Watts, Andrew. "Mao's China in the Mirror: Reversing the Exotic in Dai Sijie's Balzac et la Petite Tailleuse chinoise." Romance Studies, 2011 Jan; 29 (1): 27-39.
Wiegand, David. "Painful Truths: Revolution-era Fable Explores the Consequences of Knowledge." San Francisco Chronicle, Sunday, October 28, 2001.
Autobiographical novel
An autobiographical novel is a form of novel using autofiction techniques, or the merging of autobiographical and fiction elements. The literary technique is distinguished from an autobiography or memoir by the stipulation of being fiction...
written by Dai Sijie
Dai Sijie
Dai Sijie is a French author and filmmaker of Chinese ancestry.-Biography:Dai Sijie was born in China in 1954. Because he came from an educated middle-class family, the Maoist government sent him to a reeducation camp in rural Sichuan from 1971 to 1974, during the Cultural Revolution. After his...
, and published in 2000 in French and in English in 2001. It is the author's first published novel. Its original French title is Balzac et la petite tailleuse chinoise. A film based on his novel
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress (film)
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress is a 2002 Franco-Chinese romance drama film with dialogue in the Sichuan dialect directed by Dai Sijie and starring Zhou Xun, Chen Kun and Liu Ye...
was released in 2002, directed by Dai himself.
Plot Summary
The novel, written by Dai Sijie, is about two teenagers, Luo and Ma (referred to as the narrator throughout the novel), who are sent to be reeducated in the wake of the Chinese Cultural RevolutionCultural Revolution
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...
. They are sent to the Mountain of the Phoenix of the Sky near Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
, because their doctor parents have been declared "enemies of the people" and "reactionaries of the bourgeoisie" by the Communist state. There, while compelled to work in the coal mines and with the rice crop, they are captivated by and fall in love with the daughter of the local tailor, the Little Seamstress. At the same time, they meet Four-Eyes, the son of a prominent poet, who also is being reeducated. Although he is succeeding in reeducation, he is also hiding forbidden French, Russian, and English novels. The boys convince Four-Eyes to lend them a book, Ursule Mirouët
Ursule Mirouët
Ursule Mirouët, an often overlooked novel, belongs to Honoré de Balzac’s great series of 94 novels and short stories La Comédie humaine. Written in 1841 and published in 1842, it forms part of his Scènes de la vie de province....
by Honoré de Balzac
Honoré de Balzac
Honoré de Balzac was a French novelist and playwright. His magnum opus was a sequence of short stories and novels collectively entitled La Comédie humaine, which presents a panorama of French life in the years after the 1815 fall of Napoleon....
. Later, when Four-Eyes's mother comes to take him back to the city, they steal the books.
These books inspire the narrator (called Ma in the film version) and Luo to use them to educate the Little Seamstress, whom they consider uncultured. Luo and the Seamstress's romantic relationship grows as Ma silently (and jealously) watches on the sidelines. This relationship, however, results in the Seamstress's unwanted pregnancy. Ma helps her to arrange an illegal abortion while Luo is away. Throughout the novel, the farming village of Phoenix Mountain delights in the storytelling of the two teenagers. They even are excused from work for a few days to see films at Yong Jing, a nearby town, and later relate the story to the townspeople. One of these films, a North Korean film entitled The Little Flower Seller and identified by the narrator as "a propaganda film like no other" (39), closely resembles the 1972 Korean film version of The Flower Girl
The Flower Girl
The Flower Girl is a North Korean revolutionary genre theatrical performance, supposedly written by Kim Il-Sung himself according to official North Korean sources...
(1972) in the melodramatic scene of the death of the eponymous character's mother. Also notable among the stories they retell is Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo
The Count of Monte Cristo
The Count of Monte Cristo is an adventure novel by Alexandre Dumas. It is often considered to be, along with The Three Musketeers, Dumas's most popular work. He completed the work in 1844...
. Ma mostly assists with the storytelling because Luo is more capable of moving the audience. Particularly inspirational to the narrator is the translation by Fu Lei
Fu Lei
Fu Lei , was a famous translator and art critic. He was born near Shanghai and raised by his mother. He studied art and art theory in France from 1928–1932. Upon his return to China, he taught in Shanghai and worked as a journalist and art critic until he took up translating...
of Romain Rolland's Jean-Christophe
Jean-Christophe
Jean-Christophe is the novel in ten volumes by Romain Rolland for which he received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1915. It was translated into English by Gilbert Cannan....
, which the narrator credits as giving him a newfound sense of individualism. Other talents and possessions of the two boys at which the townspeople wonder include Luo's clock and Ma's violin (on which they love to hear "Mozart Is Thinking of Chairman Mao
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
," their improvised, Communist-friendly name for a Mozart Sonata).
Later, Luo's mission of educating the Little Seamstress backfires. At first, however, it seems as if his plan is working perfectly – she adopts the city accent and begins making modern clothing. Yet, one day, she leaves without saying farewell. This sudden change for the two characters leaves them heartbroken and plays a huge role in both of their lives.
Autobiographical Elements
Dai Sijie was born in 1954 in Funian, China. From 1971-1974, he was sent to Sichuan province for re-education, about which he says, “It wasn’t exactly a holiday camp! And the work was very hard. But we had our own weapons. We knew how to read and the villagers were illiterate, so we had a certain power over them. For instance, we knew how to tell the time so we could manipulate them to our advantage.” Dai moved to France in 1984.The author emphasizes the novel as more of a work of fiction rather than a critique of the Cultural Revolution: "It's nothing but a love story.” He continues, “The stealing books part is true and the experience of reading stories to farmers is also true."
In answer to criticism on why Western literature, rather than works of classical Chinese literature, seem to save the characters, Dai has responded that classical literature would have been too complex and too removed from the Seamstress’s life to have captivated her: “We have masterpieces in our literature, but the stories that they recount remain extremely classical. Emperors, queens, mandarins, this was really too far removed from the little seamstress. Balzac was much more accessible, because more universal.” Dai states that Chinese authorities who banned his book and then the film "did not accept that Western literature could change a Chinese girl. I explained that classical literature is a universal heritage, but to no avail."
Characters
- Luo — Luo is the only character in the novel with a recognizable name. Luo is the son of a famous dentist who bragged of having worked on Chairman Mao's teeth, and is accused of being a reactionary for having committed the sin of suggesting that the Chairman had dental problems. Following this, he is publicly humiliated, and then raped in jail. Luo is audacious, a talented liar, and a storyteller. He evolves throughout the story as the other characters do, and he seems to have gained the knowledge of sexual relationship and learns that one should not try to change who a person is, but should appreciate him or her for who he/she is.
- The narrator — His name is Ma, but since it only is given in Chinese in the book, he just is known as "the narrator." The son of two doctors who have been labeled enemies of the people, the narrator mentions that his name is written in Chinese characters that in English translate as "Horse Sword Bell," but in the original French version this is not specified, as he mentions only that the characters making up his name can be drawn as a man riding a horse, a long sword, and a ringing bell. The narrator plays the violin and once is referred to in the novel as "the fiddler." His character begins with very low confidence, but, as the novel progresses, the narrator's storytelling skills rival and then arguably surpass those of his friend, Luo, through reading literature. He also becomes more audacious, as he purposefully causes the headman of the village severe pain by pumping the machine that drills holes in teeth very slowly. He also falls in love with the Little Seamstress and becomes her confidante through an abortion although he never is able to steal her heart from Luo.
- The Little Seamstress — Daughter of a famous local tailor, the Little Seamstress is a rare beauty. She is shy and tries to stay away from her many suitors, but falls for the two city boys who visit her often, eventually becoming involved with Luo. She has had no formal education and cannot read, so Luo and the narrator read to her. Amongst the ignorant peasants, she has an air of sophistication due to her relative wealth, though Luo comments early in the novel that she is "not civilized". Luo, however, is only stereotyping her. As the novel progresses, the Little Seamstress learns about the outside world by reading the foreign books with Luo’s help. She eventually leaves the mountain and everything that she has known to start a new life in the city.
- The Headman — The headman is the leader of the village to which the narrator and Luo are sent for reeducation. He has a very arrogant personality and believes that he knows everything even though he only ever has experienced the small, secluded mountain on which he lives. One day, he even blackmails Luo to fix his teeth in return for not sending the narrator to jail.
- Four-Eyes — He is the son of a writer and a poet, but does not seem to have inherited his parents' ability of writing. Four-Eyes must wear thick glasses to compensate for his nearsightedness (hence his nickname). He possesses a treasure trove of forbidden "reactionary" Western novels that the Narrator and Luo covet and eventually steal. He is referred to as a character who is used to humiliation. He is the rude and betraying person who ends up trying to use his friends. He says to his mother that the only reason he was friends with Luo was because his father was a great dentist and that if he was friendly enough, they could save some money on dental work. He clearly values possessions more than people. He also does not seem to know how to fit in. He ends up leaving the mountain when his mother convinces the government to end his reeducation early.
- The Miller — He is an old man who lives alone and is a repository of local "folk" songs. The Miller narrates one part of the novel and provides songs to the boys, who then relate them to Four-Eyes. He is one of the characters who chooses not to be involved with the revolution.
- The Tailor — He is the father of the Little Seamstress. He is richer than all the peasants and is treated almost like royalty. At one point in the story, the narrator recounts a Western story to him while he spends the night with the narrator and Luo. Through this experience, he gains a slight air of sophistication, and the story begins to influence the clothes that he makes.
Interviews and Reading Guides
- Interview with Dai Sijie on NPR's All Things Considered. In French with English translation. Originally aired March 17, 2002.
- INA interview with Dai Sijie. Originally aired January 21, 2000.
- Interview with Dai Sijie from bacfilms.com. French.
- http://www.readinggroupguides.com/guides3/balzac_and_the_seamstress1.asp
Articles and Book Reviews
Allen, Brooke. "A Suitcase Education." New York Times Book Review, 9/16/2001, p 24.Bloom, Michelle E. "Contemporary Franco-Chinese Cinema: Translation, Citation and Imitation in Dai Sijie’s Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress and Tsai Ming-Liang’s What Time is it There?" Quarterly Review of Film and Video, 22:311–325, 2005.
Chevaillier, Flore. "Commercialism and Cultural Misreading in Dai Sijie's Balzac et la petite tailleuse chinoise." Forum for Modern Language Studies, 2011 Jan; 47 (1): 60-74.
Coltvet, Ben McDonald. Review in Christian Century, 1/2/2002, Vol. 119 Issue 1, p 37. Abstract available at http://www.christiancentury.org/reviews/2011-05/balzac-and-little-chinese-seamstress-dai-sijie
McCall, Ian. "French Literature And Film In The USSR And Mao's China: Intertexts In Makine's Au Temps Du Fleuve Amour And Dai Sijie's Balzac Et La Petite Tailleuse Chinoise." Romance Studies, Vol. 24 (2), July 2006.
Riding, Alan. "Artistic Odyssey: Film to Fiction to Film." New York Times, 7/27/2005, p 1.
Schwartz, Lynne Sharon. "In the Beginning Was the Book." New Leader, Sep/Oct2001, Vol. 84 Issue 5, p 23.
Silvester, Rosalind. "Genre and Image in Francophone Chinese Works." Contemporary French and Francophone Studies
Vol. 10, No. 4, December 2006, pp. 367–375.
Watts, Andrew. "Mao's China in the Mirror: Reversing the Exotic in Dai Sijie's Balzac et la Petite Tailleuse chinoise." Romance Studies, 2011 Jan; 29 (1): 27-39.
Wiegand, David. "Painful Truths: Revolution-era Fable Explores the Consequences of Knowledge." San Francisco Chronicle, Sunday, October 28, 2001.