Tong Zhonggui (Chinese: 童忠贵; pinyin: Tóng Zhōngguì; born January 23, 1963), known by the pen name of Su Tong (苏童; 蘇童; Sū Tóng) is a Chinese writer. He was born in Suzhou and lives in Nanjing.[1]
Tong Zhonggui | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Native name | 童忠贵 |
| Born | January 1963 (age 61–62) Suzhou, Jiangsu, China |
| Pen name | Su Tong (苏童) |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Language | Chinese |
| Nationality | Chinese |
| Alma mater | Beijing Normal University |
| Period | 1980–present |
| Genre | Novel |
| Notable works | Shadow of the Hunter |
| Notable awards | 9th Mao Dun Literature Prize 2015 Shadow of the Hunter |
| Su Tong | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simplified Chinese | 苏童 | ||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 蘇童 | ||||||||
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| Tong Zhonggui | |||||||||
| Chinese | 童忠贵 | ||||||||
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He entered the Department of Chinese at Beijing Normal University in 1980, and started to publish novels in 1983. He is now vice president of the Jiangsu Writers Association.[2] Known for his controversial writing style, Su is one of the most acclaimed novelists in China.[3]
Work
editSu has written seven full-length novels and over 200 short stories, some of which have been translated into English, German, Italian and French.[4]
He is best known in the West for his novella Raise the Red Lantern (originally titled Wives and Concubines), published in 1990. The book was adapted into the film, Raise the Red Lantern by director Zhang Yimou. The book has since been published under the name given to the film in the English version and in some other versions. His other works available in English translation are Rice, My Life as Emperor, Petulia's Rouge Tin (Hongfen in Chinese), Binu and the Great Wall (tr. Howard Goldblatt), Madwoman on the Bridge and Other Stories, Tattoo: Three Novellas and The Boat to Redemption, also translated by Goldblatt.
His novel Petulia's Rouge Tin, about two Shanghai prostitutes at the time of Liberation in 1949, has been adapted to two films: Li Shaohong's Blush (Hongfen, 1994) and Huang Shuqin's Rouged Beauties (Hongfen Jiaren, 1995).[5]
In 2009, he was awarded the Man Asian Literary Prize for his work The Boat to Redemption, the second Chinese writer to win the prize.[6]
In 2011, Su Tong was nominated to win the Man Booker International Prize.[7] In 2015, he was a co-winner of the Mao Dun Literature Prize for Shadow of the Hunter.[8]
Selected works in translation
edit- Midnight Stories. Translator Honey Watson. Horsham: Sinoist Books. November 2024.
- Missives from the Masses. Translator Josh Stenberg. Horsham: Sinoist Books. February 2024. ISBN 9781838905651
- Open-Air Cinema: Reminiscences and Micro-Essays from the Author of Raise the Red Lantern. Translators Haiwang Yuan, James Trapp, Nicky Harman, Olivia Milburn. Horsham: Sinoist Books. October 2021. ISBN 9781838905248
- Shadow of the Hunter. Translator James Trapp. London: ACA Publishing. May 2020. ISBN 9781838905057
- Petulia's Rouge Tin. Translated by Jane Weizhen Pan; Martin Merz. Penguin Specials. 2018.
- Tattoo: Three Novellas. Translated by Josh Stenberg. Portland, Me.: MerwinAsia. 2010. ISBN 9780552774543.
- The Boat to Redemption. Translated by Howard Goldblatt. London: Black Swan. July 2010. ISBN 9780552774543.
- Binu and the Great Wall of China. Translated by Howard Goldblatt. Edinburgh: Canongate Books. August 2009.
- Madwoman on the Bridge. Translated by Josh Stenberg. London: Black Swan. August 2008. ISBN 9780552774529.
- My Life as Emperor. Translated by Howard Goldblatt. Hyperion East. 2005.
- Rice. Translated by Howard Goldblatt. New York: Perennial. 2004. ISBN 0060596325.
- Raise the Red Lantern: Three Novellas. Translated by Michael S. Duke. New York: Penguin Books. 1996. ISBN 0140260307.
- Includes Raise the Red Lantern, Nineteen Thirty-four Escapes, and Opium Family.[9]
References
edit
- Zhang, Yingjin (December 1994). "Raise the Red Lantern: Three Novellas by Su Tong, Michael S. Duke". Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews. 16: 185–187. doi:10.2307/495325. JSTOR 495325.
Reference notes
edit- ^ Hua Li, Contemporary Chinese Fiction by Su Tong and Yu Hua: Coming of Age in Troubled Times (BRILL, 2011) p90
- ^ "苏童_中国作家网". www.chinawriter.com.cn. Retrieved May 7, 2021.
- ^ http://news.sina.com.hk/cgi-bin/nw/show.cgi/3/1/1/1331354/1.html [dead link]
- ^ http://news.sina.com.hk/cgi-bin/nw/show.cgi/3/1/1/1331353/1.html [dead link]
- ^ Davis, Edward L. (2009). Encyclopedia of Contemporary Chinese Culture. Taylor & Francis. p. 790. ISBN 978-0-415-77716-2.
- ^ Lam, Tiffany (18 November 2009). "Road to Redemption: Su Tong's literary smash", CNNGo.
- ^ "Three Asian authors make the Man Booker International Prize shortlist". Asia Pacific Arts. April 5, 2011. Archived from the original on 2011-05-02.
- ^ "Winners of 2015 Mao Dun Literature Prize announced". GBTimes. August 17, 2015. Retrieved August 18, 2015.
- ^ "Raise the Red Lantern: Three Novellas". Publishers Weekly. 1993-06-28. Retrieved 2022-09-16.
Further reading
editEnglish:
- Deppman, Hsiu-Chuang (Fall 2003). "Body, Space, and Power: Reading the Cultural Images of Concubines in the Works of Su Tong and Zhang Yimou". Modern Chinese Literature and Culture. 15 (2). Edinburgh University Press: 121–153. JSTOR 41490906.
- Knight, Deirdre Sabina (Spring–Fall 1998). "Decadence, Revolution and Self-Determination in Su Tong's Fiction". Modern Chinese Literature. 10 (1/2): 91–111. JSTOR 41490774.
- Lee (李), Vivian Pui Lin (佩然) (Spring 2012). "Omens of history: Su Tong's southern landscape and dynastic histories = 歷史的凶兆 : 蘇童的南方景觀和朝代歷史". Journal of Modern Literature in Chinese 現代中文文學學報. 10 (2): 38–59.
- Tang, Xiaobing (Spring–Fall 1992). "The Mirror of History and History as Spectacle: Reflections on Hsiao Yeh and Su T'ung". Modern Chinese Literature. 6 (1/2: Special Issue on Contemporary Chinese Fiction from Taiwan). Edinburgh University Press: 203-220 (18 pages. JSTOR 41490700.
- Visser, Robin (Spring 1995). "Displacement of the Urban-Rural Confrontation in Su Tong's Fiction". Modern Chinese Literature. 9 (1): 113–138. JSTOR 41490750.
Chinese:
- Meng (孟), Yueh (悦) (1990). "蘇童的'家使'與'歷史'寫作 (Su T'ung te 'chia-shih' yu 'li-shih' hsieh-tso)" [The Writing of Family Genealogy and 'History' by Su T'ung]. Today (Chin-ťien) (in Chinese). 2: 84–.
- Wang, Dewei (1991). "'Shijimo' de xianfeng: Zhu Tianwen yu Su Tong" [The fin-de-siècle avant guard: Zhu Tianwen and Su Tong]. Today (Jintian) (in Chinese). 2: 99.