Ripple on Stagnant Water (traditional Chinese: 死水微瀾; simplified Chinese: 死水微澜), also translated as Ripples Across Stagnant Water, and Ripples on Dead Water, is a novel by Li Jieren. It was first published in 1935.[1] An updated version appeared in 1955.[2]
 First edition | |
| Author | Li Jieren |
|---|---|
| Language | Sichuanese |
| Genre | Naturalism |
| Set in | Sichuan |
| Publisher | Chunghwa Publishing |
Publication date | 1935 |
| Publication place | Republican China |
Published in English | 1990, 2013 |
| Media type | Paperback |
| Pages | 282 |
| OCLC | 28924130 |
| Followed by | Before the Storm |
| Ripple on Stagnant Water | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 死水微瀾 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 死水微澜 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Plot
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The work follows the married and romantic life of Deng Yaogu[note 1], a resident of the town of Tianhui[note 2] along with her husband, Cai Xingshun[note 3]. She wants to change the circumstances of her live relocate to Chengdu. She is involved in two affairs and divorces Cai between the first and second. The first is with her cousin, Cambuel Luo[note 4], who is in a secretive organization known as Elder Brothers Society. The second is with Gu Tiancheng[note 5], a Christian from Chengdu whom she marries.[6]
By describing the lives of commoners, the novel reveals a complex balance of power among the local Christian communities, Elder Brothers Society and the bureaucracy, during the last decade of the 19th century.
According to Yuehtsen Juliette Chung[note 6] of National Tsing-Hua University, Cambuel Luo and Gu Tiancheng represent both a city-country tension.[6]
Versions
editThe 1955 version was published by Zuojia Chubanshe. C. T. Hsia stated that according to Li Jieren's statements in the postscript, the 1955 version had "slight" changes.[7]
Translations
editAn earlier English translation was marketed by Panda Books in 1990,[4] as Ripples Across Stagnant Water. This translation was published in China by the Chinese Literature Press.
An English translation by Bret Starling and Yin Chi[note 7], titled Ripple on Stagnant Water: A Novel of Sichuan in the Age of Treaty Ports, was published by University of Hawaii Press in 2013. In this version, the appendix houses the novel's prologue.[8] This version is distributed in Canada by University of British Columbia Press. The basis of the Starling/Chi translation is the Chinese version published in 1935.[1]
Kristin Eileen Stapleton[note 8] of the University of Buffalo stated that in the Starling/Chi version, the Sichuanese dialect speech in the original novel was translated into "what I gather is a sort of Scottish brogue".[4]
Adaptation
editThere is a 1988 television adaptation, titled in English as A Woman to Three Men, but with the same Chinese title as the original novel.
There is also a 1992 British Hong Kong-China film, titled in English as Ripples Across Stagnant Water, with the Chinese name being "狂" (kuáng).
See also
edit- The Lost Geopoetic Horizon of Li Jieren, which has a chapter discussing the work
Notes
editNames in native languages:
- ^ traditional Chinese: 鄧幺姑; simplified Chinese: 邓幺姑; pinyin: Dèng Yāogū; Wade–Giles: Teng4 Yao1-ku1
- ^ 天回鎮; 天回镇; Tiānhuí zhèn; Ti'en1-hui2 chen4, called Tianhui in the Panda Books translation and "Heaven's Turn" in the Bret Starling/Yin Chi translation.[3]
- ^ 蔡興順; 蔡兴顺; Cài Xīngshùn; Ts'ai4 Hsing1-shun4
- ^ 羅歪嘴; 罗歪嘴; Luó Wāizuǐ; Lo2 Wai1-tsui3; 'Twisted Mouth Luo': The character's English name is "Cambuel Luo" in the translation by Bret Starling and Yin Chi and "Skewmouth Luo" in the Panda Books translation.[4] "Cam beul" means "curved mouth" in Gaelic.[5]
- ^ 顧天成; 顾天成; Gù Tiānchéng; Ku T'ien1-ch'eng2
- ^ 鐘月岑; 钟月岑; Zhōng Yuècén; Chung1 Yüeh4-ts'en2
- ^ 殷馳; 殷驰; Yīn Chí
- ^ 司崑崙; 司昆仑; Sī Kūnlún; Ssu1 K'un1-lun2
References
edit- Kwa, Shiamin (2015). "Ripple on Stagnant Water; Fact in Fiction: 1920s China and Ba Jin's Family". China Review International. 22 (2). University of Hawaii Press: 123–128. doi:10.1353/cri.2015.0029. JSTOR 26342200. - PDF - also at Project MUSE
- "Errata". China Review International. 22 (3–4). University of Hawai'i Press: 255. 2015. doi:10.1353/cri.2015.0063.
Reference notes
edit- ^ a b "Ripple on Stagnant Water". University of British Columbia. Retrieved 2024-10-05.
- ^ Kwa, p. 124.
- ^ "Ripple on Stagnant Water". MerwinAsia. Retrieved 2024-10-06.
- ^ a b c Stapleton, Kristin (6 May 2015). "Lost Geopoetic Horizon of Li Jieren (1)". Oklahoma State University. Retrieved 2024-10-05.
- ^ "Clan Campbell Customs To Know". Clan Campbell Society. Retrieved 2024-10-06.
- ^ a b Chung, Yuehtsen Juliette (15 June 2016). "The Lost Geopoetic Horizon of Li Jieren: The Crisis of Writing Chengdu in Revolutionary China". Oklahoma State University. Retrieved 2024-10-05.
- ^ Hsia, C. T. (1999-11-22). A History of Modern Chinese Fiction, Third Edition. Indiana University Press. p. 615. ISBN 9780253213112.
- ^ Kwa, p. 126.
Further reading
edit- Ng, Kenny K K (2019). "Li Jieren's Fiction and Ripples on Dead Water". In Mingdong Gu (ed.). Routledge Handbook of Modern Chinese Literature. New York City: Routledge. pp. 72–83. doi:10.4324/9781315626994. ISBN 978-1-315-62699-4.
- Zhang, Bei (2023). "译者声音与译本形变——《死水微澜》2014年英译本研究" [Translators’ Voice and the Deformation of the Translation: A Study on the English Translation of Sishui Weilan]. Journal of Foreign Languages (in Chinese (China)). 46 (2). Shanghai International Studies University: 119–128. - PDF Abstract in English available.
External links
edit- Ripple on Stagnant Water - MerwinAsia
- Ripple on Stagnant Water - University of Hawaii Press
- Ripple on Stagnant Water - University of British Columbia Press
- Ripples Across Stagnant Water (Panda Books version, 1990, ISBN 7-5071-0074-X/I.68 (old ISBN 0-8351-2085-6)) - On the Internet Archive
- Ripple on Stagnant Water at IMDb