Wolf Totem
Encyclopedia
Wolf Totem is a semi-autobiographical novel about the experiences of a young student from Beijing
who finds himself sent down to the countryside
of Inner Mongolia
in 1967, at the height of China
's Cultural Revolution
. The author, Lü Jiamin
, wrote the book under the pseudonym Jiang Rong; his true identity did not become publicly known until several years after the book's publication.
to work in Inner Mongolia during the cultural revolution. Through descriptions of folk traditions, rituals, and life on the steppe, Wolf Totem compares the culture of the ethnic Mongolian nomads and the Han Chinese
farmers in the area, praising the "freedom, independence, respect, unyielding before hardship, teamwork and competition" of the former and criticising the "Confucian
-inspired culture" of the latter, in which the author referred to as "sheeplike". The book condemns the agricultural collectivisation
imposed on the nomads by the settlers, and the ecological disasters it caused, and ends with a 60-page "call to action" disconnected from the main thread of the novel. The author states that he was inspired to begin writing Wolf Totem by an accident: he ignored the advice of the clan chief of the group of nomads with whom he was staying, and accidentally stumbled across a pack of wolves. Terrified, he watched as the wolves chased a herd of sheep off a cliff, then dragged their corpses into a cave. From then on, fascinated by the wolves, he began to study them and their relationship with the nomads more closely, and even attempted to domesticate one.
began to appear just five days after the book first appeared on shelves. As of March 2006, it had sold over four million copies in China, and had also been broadcast in audiobook format in twelve parts during prime time on China Radio International
. Despite the author's refusal to participate in any marketing activities, deals for adaptations of the novel into other media and translations into other languages have set various financial records. In August 2004, the Beijing Forbidden City Film Company purchased the movie rights to the novel for one million RMB; the Beijing Youth Daily described the movie version as China's highest-budget film as of 2005, and noted that the same special effects team
which worked on The Lord of the Rings film trilogy
had been contracted to work on the special effects for Wolf Totem. The production team are aiming to complete the film in time for the 2008 Summer Olympics
in Beijing. Jiang also released a children's edition of the book in July 2005, cut down from the 650 pages (540,000 characters) of the original (including a 60-page, 50,000 character "call to action" at the end) to roughly one-third the length. Overseas, Penguin Books
paid US$100,000 for the worldwide English rights, setting a record for the highest amount ever paid for the translation rights to a Chinese book; an unspecified Tokyo publisher paid US$300,000 for the rights to publish a manga
adaptation, and Bertelsmann
bought the German-language
rights for €20,000. The author himself is looking forward to the translations; in his own words, he believes that "in the West they may understand [my book] more fully" than in China.
A number of other writers took advantage of the author's anonymity to write fake sequels to Wolf Totem, including two books both entitled Wolf Totem 2, as well as the 250,000-character long Great Wolf of the Plains all with the imprint of the Changjiang Arts Publishing House. As a result, in April 2007, he issued a statement which denounced all such "sequels" as fraudulent; he indicated that he was doing research for another book, but would not be publishing anything new in the short term.
However, Wolf Totem has also been the subject of several criticisms. German sinologist Wolfgang Kubin
described the book as "fascist
" for its depiction and treatment of the farmers. Later, Pankaj Mishra
, reviewing the English translation for The New York Times
, faulted Lu's writing as "awkwardly paced" and "full of set-piece didacticism".
}|last=Jiang|first=Rong|publisher=Lee Man Publication|location=Hong Kong|isbn=9629881292|date=January 2005|language=Traditional Chinese}}
}|last=Jiang|first=Rong|publisher=Feng Yun Publishing|location=Taipei|isbn=986146123X|date=January 2005|language=Traditional Chinese}}
}|publisher=Dongbang Media|location=Seoul|isbn=8990488532|date=June 2006}}
}|publisher=Dongbang Media|location=Seoul|isbn=8990488540|date=June 2006}}
}|publisher=Dongbang Media|location=Seoul|isbn=8990488559|date=June 2006}}
}|date=2007-11-29|publisher=Kōdansha|isbn=4062138492}}
}|date=2007-11-29|publisher=Kōdansha|isbn=4062138506}}
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...
who finds himself sent down to the countryside
Down to the Countryside Movement
The Down to the Countryside Movement was a policy instituted in the People's Republic of China in the late 1960s and early 1970s. As a result of the anti-bourgeois thinking prevalent during the Cultural Revolution, Mao Zedong declared certain privileged urban youth would be sent to mountainous...
of Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China, located in the northern region of the country. Inner Mongolia shares an international border with the countries of Mongolia and the Russian Federation...
in 1967, at the height of China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
's Cultural Revolution
Cultural 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...
. The author, Lü Jiamin
Lu Jiamin
Lü Jiamin is a Chinese writer, most famous for his best-selling 2004 novel Wolf Totem, which he wrote under the pseudonym Jiang Rong. He is married to fellow novelist Zhang Kangkang.-Early life:...
, wrote the book under the pseudonym Jiang Rong; his true identity did not become publicly known until several years after the book's publication.
Themes
Wolf Totem is narrated by protagonist Chen Zhen, a young man in his 20s who, like the author, left his native BeijingBeijing
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...
to work in Inner Mongolia during the cultural revolution. Through descriptions of folk traditions, rituals, and life on the steppe, Wolf Totem compares the culture of the ethnic Mongolian nomads and the Han Chinese
Han Chinese
Han Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and are the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92% of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98% of the population of the Republic of China , 78% of the population of Singapore, and about 20% of the...
farmers in the area, praising the "freedom, independence, respect, unyielding before hardship, teamwork and competition" of the former and criticising the "Confucian
Confucianism
Confucianism is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius . Confucianism originated as an "ethical-sociopolitical teaching" during the Spring and Autumn Period, but later developed metaphysical and cosmological elements in the Han...
-inspired culture" of the latter, in which the author referred to as "sheeplike". The book condemns the agricultural collectivisation
Collective farming
Collective farming and communal farming are types of agricultural production in which the holdings of several farmers are run as a joint enterprise...
imposed on the nomads by the settlers, and the ecological disasters it caused, and ends with a 60-page "call to action" disconnected from the main thread of the novel. The author states that he was inspired to begin writing Wolf Totem by an accident: he ignored the advice of the clan chief of the group of nomads with whom he was staying, and accidentally stumbled across a pack of wolves. Terrified, he watched as the wolves chased a herd of sheep off a cliff, then dragged their corpses into a cave. From then on, fascinated by the wolves, he began to study them and their relationship with the nomads more closely, and even attempted to domesticate one.
Marketing
Wolf Totem exhibited strong sales almost immediately after its release, selling 50,000 copies in two weeks; pirated editionsCopyright infringement
Copyright infringement is the unauthorized or prohibited use of works under copyright, infringing the copyright holder's exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works.- "Piracy" :...
began to appear just five days after the book first appeared on shelves. As of March 2006, it had sold over four million copies in China, and had also been broadcast in audiobook format in twelve parts during prime time on China Radio International
China Radio International
China Radio International , the former Radio Beijing and originally Radio Peking, founded on December 3 of 1941, is one of the three state-owned media in China along with China National Radio and China Central Television in the People's Republic of China .As the PRC's external radio station, CRI...
. Despite the author's refusal to participate in any marketing activities, deals for adaptations of the novel into other media and translations into other languages have set various financial records. In August 2004, the Beijing Forbidden City Film Company purchased the movie rights to the novel for one million RMB; the Beijing Youth Daily described the movie version as China's highest-budget film as of 2005, and noted that the same special effects team
Special effects of The Lord of the Rings film trilogy
The Lord of the Rings film trilogy used many groundbreaking practical and digital visual effects. The first film has around 540 effects shots, the second 799, and the third 1488 . The total moves up to 3420 with the Extended cuts. 260 visual effects artists worked on the trilogy, and the number...
which worked on The Lord of the Rings film trilogy
The Lord of the Rings film trilogy
The Lord of the Rings is an epic film trilogy consisting of three fantasy adventure films based on the three-volume book of the same name by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. The films are The Fellowship of the Ring , The Two Towers and The Return of the King .The films were directed by Peter...
had been contracted to work on the special effects for Wolf Totem. The production team are aiming to complete the film in time for the 2008 Summer Olympics
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...
in Beijing. Jiang also released a children's edition of the book in July 2005, cut down from the 650 pages (540,000 characters) of the original (including a 60-page, 50,000 character "call to action" at the end) to roughly one-third the length. Overseas, Penguin Books
Penguin Books
Penguin Books is a publisher founded in 1935 by Sir Allen Lane and V.K. Krishna Menon. Penguin revolutionised publishing in the 1930s through its high quality, inexpensive paperbacks, sold through Woolworths and other high street stores for sixpence. Penguin's success demonstrated that large...
paid US$100,000 for the worldwide English rights, setting a record for the highest amount ever paid for the translation rights to a Chinese book; an unspecified Tokyo publisher paid US$300,000 for the rights to publish a manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
adaptation, and Bertelsmann
Bertelsmann
Bertelsmann AG is a multinational media corporation founded in 1835, based in Gütersloh, Germany. The company operates in 63 countries and employs 102,983 workers , which makes it the most international media corporation in the world. In 2008 the company reported a €16.118 billion consolidated...
bought the German-language
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
rights for €20,000. The author himself is looking forward to the translations; in his own words, he believes that "in the West they may understand [my book] more fully" than in China.
A number of other writers took advantage of the author's anonymity to write fake sequels to Wolf Totem, including two books both entitled Wolf Totem 2, as well as the 250,000-character long Great Wolf of the Plains all with the imprint of the Changjiang Arts Publishing House. As a result, in April 2007, he issued a statement which denounced all such "sequels" as fraudulent; he indicated that he was doing research for another book, but would not be publishing anything new in the short term.
Awards and critical reaction
Despite Jiang's stated refusal to attend any awards ceremonies or participate in any publicity activities, Wolf Totem has received more than 10 literary prizes, as well as other recognitions, including:- Named as one of the "Ten Best Chinese-language Books of 2004" by international newsweekly Yazhou ZhoukanYazhou ZhoukanYazhou Zhoukan , literally as "Asia Weekly", is the only Chinese language international affairs newsweekly which has been published for over 20 years...
- Nominee for the 2nd "21st Century Ding Jun Semiannual Literary Prize" in 2005
- Recipient of the first Man Asian Literary PrizeMan Asian Literary PrizeThe Man Asian Literary Prize, founded in 2007, is an annual literary award given to the best novel by an Asian writer, either written in English or translated into English, and published in the previous calendar year...
, November 2007
However, Wolf Totem has also been the subject of several criticisms. German sinologist Wolfgang Kubin
Wolfgang Kubin
Wolfgang Kubin is a German sinologist and works at the University of Bonn's Institute for Oriental and Asian Studies.In November 2006, he attracted a great deal of attention due to an interview he gave with German broadcaster Deutsche Welle regarding a few prominent examples of recent contemporary...
described the book as "fascist
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
" for its depiction and treatment of the farmers. Later, Pankaj Mishra
Pankaj Mishra
Pankaj Mishra born 1969 in Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh , is an Indian essayist and novelist. He is particularly notable for his book Butter Chicken in Ludhiana, a sociological study of small-town India, and his writing for the New York Review of Books.He graduated with a bachelor's degree in commerce...
, reviewing the English translation for The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, faulted Lu's writing as "awkwardly paced" and "full of set-piece didacticism".
Editions and translations
- First edition:
- Traditional Chinese editions:
}|last=Jiang|first=Rong|publisher=Lee Man Publication|location=Hong Kong|isbn=9629881292|date=January 2005|language=Traditional Chinese}}
}|last=Jiang|first=Rong|publisher=Feng Yun Publishing|location=Taipei|isbn=986146123X|date=January 2005|language=Traditional Chinese}}
- Children's editions:
- Simplified Chinese:
- Traditional Chinese:
- Mongolian editions:
- Mongolian ScriptMongolian scriptThe classical Mongolian script , also known as Uyghurjin, was the first writing system created specifically for the Mongolian language, and was the most successful until the introduction of Cyrillic in 1946...
: - Mongolian CyrillicMongolian Cyrillic alphabetThe Mongolian Cyrillic script is the writing system used for the Khalkha dialect of the Mongolian language as the standard dialect of the modern state of Mongolia. Cyrillic has not been adopted by the Khalkha in the Inner Mongolia region of China, who still use the Mongolian script.Mongolian...
:
- Mongolian Script
- KoreanKorean languageKorean is the official language of the country Korea, in both South and North. It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in People's Republic of China. There are about 78 million Korean speakers worldwide. In the 15th century, a national writing...
edition (in 3 parts):
}|publisher=Dongbang Media|location=Seoul|isbn=8990488532|date=June 2006}}
}|publisher=Dongbang Media|location=Seoul|isbn=8990488540|date=June 2006}}
}|publisher=Dongbang Media|location=Seoul|isbn=8990488559|date=June 2006}}
- JapaneseJapanese languageis a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
edition (in 2 parts):
}|date=2007-11-29|publisher=Kōdansha|isbn=4062138492}}
}|date=2007-11-29|publisher=Kōdansha|isbn=4062138506}}
- VietnameseVietnamese languageVietnamese is the national and official language of Vietnam. It is the mother tongue of 86% of Vietnam's population, and of about three million overseas Vietnamese. It is also spoken as a second language by many ethnic minorities of Vietnam...
edition: - FrenchFrench languageFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
edition: - EnglishEnglish languageEnglish is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
edition: - HungarianHungarian languageHungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....
edition: - GreekGreek languageGreek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
edition: - GermanGerman languageGerman is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
edition: - SerbianSerbian languageSerbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries....
edition: - PortuguesePortuguese languagePortuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
edition: Editora Sextante, forthcoming. - DutchDutch languageDutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
edition: Prometheus, forthcoming. - ItalianItalian languageItalian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
edition: Mondadori, forthcoming. - HebrewHebrew languageHebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
edition: Kinneret, forthcoming. - TurkishTurkish languageTurkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
edition: Dogan Kitapcilik, forthcoming. - SpanishSpanish languageSpanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
edition: Alfaguara, forthcoming. - CatalanCatalan languageCatalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...
edition: RBA Libros, forthcoming. - RussianRussian languageRussian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
edition: Mir Knigi, forthcoming. - RomanianRomanian languageRomanian Romanian Romanian (or Daco-Romanian; obsolete spellings Rumanian, Roumanian; self-designation: română, limba română ("the Romanian language") or românește (lit. "in Romanian") is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova...
edition: Curtea Veche, forthcoming. - Slovene edition: Založba Mladinska Knjiga, Volčji totem (October 2009).
See also
- Zhang ChengzhiZhang ChengzhiZhang Chengzhi is a contemporary Hui Chinese author. Often named as the most influential Muslim writer in China, his historical narrative History of the Soul, about the rise of the Jahriyya Sufi order , was the second-most popular book in China in 1994.-Biography:Zhang was born in Beijing in 1948...
, a senior of Jiang's at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences who was also sent down to Ujimqin Banner during the Cultural Revolution and rose to fame through his writings about Inner Mongolia - TenggerTengriTengri or Tengger Tengri or Tengger Tengri or Tengger (Old Turkic: ; Mongolian: Тэнгэр, Tenger; Chinese: 腾格里, Mandarin: Ténggélǐ, Hungarian: Tengri, Turkish: Tanrı, Bulgarian: Tangra (Тангра) is a sky god, formerly the chief deity of the early Turkic peoples, including the Xiongnu, Huns, Bulgars,...
, the Mongolian sky-god discussed in the novel