Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie

Reformers began to dismantle the policies in 1976.īalzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress is an example of scar literature, a Chinese literary movement that developed after Mao Zedong's death in 1976. Though Mao declared that the Cultural Revolution ended in 1969, its policies continued for several years. These dislocated youth were allowed to return home in the late 1970s. Though the government considered them to be intellectuals, most of the young 'intellectuals' sent to the countryside were too young to be truly well-educated. Two years later, Mao began to disband the Red Guard and instead started the 'Up to the Mountains and Down to the Countryside Movement.' While one of this movement's primary goals was to dilute the Red Guard's power by getting them out of the cities, individuals like Luo and the narrator (who weren't Red Guard members) suffered greatly as a result. Mao voiced support for the group, giving it legitimacy, and more Red Guard groups sprang up across the country with the goal of 'making China red (Communist) from the inside out.' These groups destroyed a number of historical and cultural sites and artifacts, including the gravesite of Confucius, and they burned entire libraries. Within months, schools were closed and students at Tsinghua University Middle School formed the first Red Guard group in support of Mao and his goals. Dai lives in Paris and writes primarily in French, though he does possess a Chinese passport and can travel to and from China freely.Ĭhairman Mao Zedong began the Cultural Revolution in 1966 with the intent to assert communism as the primary ideology of China, while doing away with anything western or traditional. It has been translated into 25 languages as of 2017. Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress was his first novel, and it won five French literary awards.

In France, he directed several films before turning to writing. After returning from his re-education, he taught high school in Chengdu and studied art history at Sichuan University before receiving a scholarship in 1984 to study film in France. His experience being sent to live among peasants during the Cultural Revolution was the inspiration for Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, which is semi-autobiographical. Dai chose to participate, however, and he cites the allure of rigorous training as his reasoning. As an only child, Dai would've been excused from Mao's 'Up to the Mountains and Down to the Countryside' program, which sought to 're-educate' young students by sending them to work and learn from the rural peasants. Dai Sijie's parents were medical professionals in Sichuan Province.

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie