Rickshaw Boy
Encyclopedia
Rickshaw Boy or Camel Xiangzi is a novel by the Chinese author Lao She
about the life of a fictional Beijing
rickshaw man. It is considered a classic of 20th-century Chinese literature
.
Lao She returned to China from the United States after the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949. In an afterword dated September, 1954, included in the Foreign Languages Press edition of Rickshaw Boy, Lao She said that he had edited the manuscript ("taken out some of the coarser language and some unnecessary descriptions") and he expressed regret for the lack of hope expressed in the original edition.
In 1945, Evan King cut, rearranged, rewrote, invented characters, and changed the ending. The girl student and One Pock Li are King's, not Lao She's. King also added considerable embellishment to the two seduction scenes.
Additionally, the novel describes a series of adventures he has and his interactions with a number of other characters.
Beijing
-- "filthy, beautiful, decadent, bustling, chaotic, idle, lovable" -- is important as a backdrop for the book. "The only friend he had was this ancient city." (p. 31)
The book explores the intimate relationship between man and machine (the rickshaw), and the evolution of that relationship. The relationship is both financial—requiring months and years of calculation to graduate from being a renter to being an owner—and physical. "His strength seemed to permeate every part of the rickshaw. . . . he was energetic, smooth in his motions, precise. He didn't appear to be in any hurry and yet he ran very fast . . . . "
An important theme of the book is the economic precariousness of the hero's life. "No matter how hard you work or how ambitious you are, you must not start a family, you must not get sick, and you must not make a single mistake!" "If you avoid dying of starvation when young, good for you. But it was almost impossible to avoid dying of starvation when old."
Further, the book explores personality characteristics and their relationship to economic existence, especially tolerance for risk, tolerance for hard work, and assertiveness, and personal standards of human dignity. "He had a strong body, a patient disposition, ambition, yet he allowed people to treat him like a pig or a dog and he couldn't keep a job."
Isolation and individualism are important themes in the book. "His life might well be ruined by his own hands but he wasn't about to sacrifice anything for anybody. He who works for himself knows how to destroy himself. These are the two starting points of Individualism."
in stories such as The True Story of Ah Q
and Diary of a Madman.
The subject matter of Rickshaw Boy aligned with concerns of Chinese leftists and the Chinese Communist Party. For instance, the final sentences read, "Handsome, ambitious, dreamer of fine dreams, selfish, individualistic sturdy, great Hsiang Tzu. No one knows how many funerals he marched in, and no one knows when or where he was able to get himself buried, that degenerate, selfish, unlucky offspring of society's diseased womb, a ghost caught in Individualism's blind alley."
Lao She went on to play a leading role in literary associations endorsed by the government, such as the All-China Federation of Literature and Art. According to the introductory section of the Foreign Languages Press (Beijing) English translation, "Before Liberation [Lao She] wrote many works of literature, including his best novel Camel Xiangzi (or Rickshaw Boy) to expose and denounce the old society. . . . He enjoys great prestige in China and was named a "People's Artist" and a "Great Master of Language."
The University of Hawaii Press
published an English translation by Jean M. James in 1979 under the English title Rickshaw: the novel Lo-t'o Hsiang Tzu. It is based on the 1949 edition.
Foreign Languages Press (Beijing) published an English translation by Shi Xiaoqing in 1988 under the English title Camel Xiangzi.
Lao She
Shu Qingchun , better known by his pen name Lao She was a notable Chinese writer. A novelist and dramatist, he was one of the most significant figures of 20th century Chinese literature, and is perhaps best known for his novel Rickshaw Boy and the play Teahouse . He was of Manchu ethnicity...
about the life of a fictional Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
rickshaw man. It is considered a classic of 20th-century Chinese literature
Chinese literature
Chinese literature extends thousands of years, from the earliest recorded dynastic court archives to the mature fictional novels that arose during the Ming Dynasty to entertain the masses of literate Chinese...
.
History
Lao She began the novel in spring, 1936, and it was published in installments in the magazine Yuzhoufeng beginning in January, 1937. (How I came to write the novel "Camel Xiangzi", included in Foreign Languages Press edition.)Lao She returned to China from the United States after the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949. In an afterword dated September, 1954, included in the Foreign Languages Press edition of Rickshaw Boy, Lao She said that he had edited the manuscript ("taken out some of the coarser language and some unnecessary descriptions") and he expressed regret for the lack of hope expressed in the original edition.
In 1945, Evan King cut, rearranged, rewrote, invented characters, and changed the ending. The girl student and One Pock Li are King's, not Lao She's. King also added considerable embellishment to the two seduction scenes.
Subject matter and themes
The major subject matter of Rickshaw Boy is the way in which the hero makes his living pulling a rickshaw, the options he faces and choices he makes, and especially the fundamental issues of whether to work independently or as a servant to a family, and whether to rent or own a rickshaw.Additionally, the novel describes a series of adventures he has and his interactions with a number of other characters.
Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
-- "filthy, beautiful, decadent, bustling, chaotic, idle, lovable" -- is important as a backdrop for the book. "The only friend he had was this ancient city." (p. 31)
The book explores the intimate relationship between man and machine (the rickshaw), and the evolution of that relationship. The relationship is both financial—requiring months and years of calculation to graduate from being a renter to being an owner—and physical. "His strength seemed to permeate every part of the rickshaw. . . . he was energetic, smooth in his motions, precise. He didn't appear to be in any hurry and yet he ran very fast . . . . "
An important theme of the book is the economic precariousness of the hero's life. "No matter how hard you work or how ambitious you are, you must not start a family, you must not get sick, and you must not make a single mistake!" "If you avoid dying of starvation when young, good for you. But it was almost impossible to avoid dying of starvation when old."
Further, the book explores personality characteristics and their relationship to economic existence, especially tolerance for risk, tolerance for hard work, and assertiveness, and personal standards of human dignity. "He had a strong body, a patient disposition, ambition, yet he allowed people to treat him like a pig or a dog and he couldn't keep a job."
Isolation and individualism are important themes in the book. "His life might well be ruined by his own hands but he wasn't about to sacrifice anything for anybody. He who works for himself knows how to destroy himself. These are the two starting points of Individualism."
Historical significance
The characterization or point of view in Rickshaw Boy reflects the influence of Russian literature in China in general, and particularly on the way that influence was transferred to China by Lu XunLu Xun
Lu Xun or Lu Hsün , was the pen name of Zhou Shuren , one of the major Chinese writers of the 20th century. Considered by many to be the leading figure of modern Chinese literature, he wrote in baihua as well as classical Chinese...
in stories such as The True Story of Ah Q
The True Story of Ah Q
The True Story of Ah Q , is an episodic novella written by Lu Xun, first published as a serial between December 4, 1921 and February 12, 1922. It was later placed in his first short story collection Call to Arms in 1923 and is the longest of the stories in the collection...
and Diary of a Madman.
The subject matter of Rickshaw Boy aligned with concerns of Chinese leftists and the Chinese Communist Party. For instance, the final sentences read, "Handsome, ambitious, dreamer of fine dreams, selfish, individualistic sturdy, great Hsiang Tzu. No one knows how many funerals he marched in, and no one knows when or where he was able to get himself buried, that degenerate, selfish, unlucky offspring of society's diseased womb, a ghost caught in Individualism's blind alley."
Lao She went on to play a leading role in literary associations endorsed by the government, such as the All-China Federation of Literature and Art. According to the introductory section of the Foreign Languages Press (Beijing) English translation, "Before Liberation [Lao She] wrote many works of literature, including his best novel Camel Xiangzi (or Rickshaw Boy) to expose and denounce the old society. . . . He enjoys great prestige in China and was named a "People's Artist" and a "Great Master of Language."
English translations
Reynal & Hitchcock (New York) published an English translation by Evan King in 1945 under the English title Rickshaw Boy ("by Lau Shaw"). According to Jean J. James ("Note on the Text and the Translation" in the James edition), "King cut, rearrange, rewrote, invented characters, and changed the ending."The University of Hawaii Press
University of Hawaii Press
The University of Hawaii Press is a university press that is part of the University of Hawaii.The University of Hawaii Press was founded in 1947, with the mission of advancing and disseminating scholarship by publishing current research in all disciplines of the humanities and natural and social...
published an English translation by Jean M. James in 1979 under the English title Rickshaw: the novel Lo-t'o Hsiang Tzu. It is based on the 1949 edition.
Foreign Languages Press (Beijing) published an English translation by Shi Xiaoqing in 1988 under the English title Camel Xiangzi.