Half the Galaxy: Female Writers of Chinese Science Fiction
Through a year of quarantines and lockdowns throughout the world, many women are finding that hard won progress in their emancipation has somewhat diminished. Their roles regressed to the main caregiver, or manager of the house, regardless of their other responsibilities. On this year’s International Women’s Day, it’s important to remember the capabilities and achievements women have pushed forward with, both in spite of gender stereotypes and male bias, and in light of freedoms won. I have recently researched China’s net novelists, and was amazed at the creative output of women who were writing whilst also holding down full time jobs, and labouring under the yoke of domestic responsibility. Science fiction is another realm still primarily considered to be the domain of men, where women’s contribution is often overlooked, especially in China.
Posted in Articles and tagged authorship, books, china, Chinese, equality, feminism, fiction, International Women's Day, literature, science fiction, women, writing
Ye Yonglie: An Obituary
On the 15thof May 2020, one of the forefathers of Chinese science fiction, Ye Yonglie, passed away.
Born in 1940 in Wenzhou (Zhejiang), Ye was a literary prodigy who published his first work at the age of 11, and his first book at the age of 19. After graduating in chemistry from Peking University, he continued his love of writing, and went on to create a wide range of short stories, journals and longer fictional works.
Posted in Events and tagged children's fiction, china, Chinese, culture, fiction, novel, orbituary, science fiction, SFF, Ye Yonglie
Wandering Earth and China’s Sci-Fi Heritage
The Wandering Earth has been billed as a breakthrough for Chinese sci-fi.
The film tells the story of our planet, doomed by the expanding Sun, being moved across space to a safer place. The Chinese heroes have to save the mission – and humanity – when Earth gets caught in Jupiter’s gravitational pull.
Based on Hugo Award winner Liu Cixin’s short story of the same name, Wandering Earth has already grossed $600m (£464m) at the Chinese box office and was called China’s “giant leap into science fiction” by the Financial Times. It’s been bought by Netflix and will debut there on 30 April.
Posted in Articles and tagged BBC, china, Chinese, culture, film, science fiction, The Wandering Earth
Some Thoughts on The Wandering Earth
Hope you’ve all had a chance to watch The Wandering Earth by now. (If you haven’t, its on Netflix, and iQiyi). I’m ready to share my thoughts on it.
Did Wandering Earth live up to all the hype? I think it did! It was an excellent hard sci-fi movie. With very high production values, including the CG, a gripping but logically grounded plot line, which, whilst comparable to some of Hollywood’s disasterporn sci-fi, never loses its very Chinese heart.
Posted in Articles and tagged china, Chinese, cinema, culture, film, science fiction
Forgotten Planets: Exploring China’s Long-Running Sci-Fi Film Tradition
In the 18th and 19th centuries, when exploration was a hobby of the British upper classes, you’d regularly hear about the discovery of Brand New Civilizations — as though indigenous people’s generational histories did not pop into existence until someone with a pith helmet and a camera stumbled into the clearing. I had my own “Dr. Livingstone Presuming” moment this week, when I began to read headlines in such stalwarts of the British press as the Financial Times (as well as digital newcomers like The Verge) stating that the just-released film adaptation of The Wandering Earthmarked China’s first tentative foray into sci-fi cinema, before scuttling back and forth between comparisons with contemporary American blockbusters and classic American sci-fi quicker than you can say “White Gaze Genesis.”
Posted in Articles and tagged china, Chinese, cinema, culture, film, Kehuan, literature, representation, science fiction, Wandering Earth
The Path to Freedom
written by Tang Fei, translated by Xueting Christine Ni
“Imagining the worst tomorrow makes me happy.
The gloom of the future lights my path.”
Posted in Curated & Translated and tagged china, Chinese, horror, literature, science fiction, translation
Meeting Science Fiction: An Interview With Li Zhaoxin of the FAA
An open letter from Li Zhaoxin, (SF Rabbit), founder of of SFComet, translated by Xueting Christine Ni
Posted in Events and tagged books, china, Chinese, culture, interview, literature, science fiction
The Chinese Don’t Do Sci-Fi?! A Teaser
China has been a breeding ground for fantastic stories for thousands of years. Even today, there are hundreds of fantasy films every year, thousands of novels, and untold comics, both in print and on the net. But when you think about these, you picture warring kingdoms, Ming dynasty monks using mixtures of kungfu and magic. The fantasies of China seem very much to be set in the past, either through history or legend. But where’s the work that looks to the future?
Posted in Articles and tagged china, Chinese, culture, history, science fiction
On the Representation of Chinese Arts in Western Media
Recently numerous friends on social media have pointed out to me the shockingly underinformed or dubious ways in which the Chinese arts have been represented in the Western media. I have been impressed by your astuteness and I thank you for your kindness.
Posted in Articles and tagged animation, arts, china, Chinese culture, comics, commentary, film, literature, novel, representation, science fiction