Chinese Literature and Culture - December 30, 2020 - Vol 20

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There are three translations in this issue:
“Jian Ai, or Inclusive Love (1),” a chapter of Mozi,
The featured short story is “Someone Else’s Story” by Jin Yi, one of China’s modern Leftist writers, translated by Dr. Tian Lu. It gives us a picture of the helplessness of the ordinary people of “Old China” in turmoil. Though the several farmers in the story are perfectly capable of love but they cannot afford love under those dire circumstances. Both men, in love with the “wife,” unable to divide their love for her and unwilling to put it to a duel, decide to sell her to a richer man and let her go. It is someone else’s story but why does it evoke sympathy? “Someone else’s story,” as Derek Hird points out in his in-depth commentary, “Jin Yi thus reminds us, is also our own.” The “disorder” in the world, as described by Mozi, is the culprit behind the tragedy. A further investigation can reveal the real conspirators against mankind.
The third piece is a poem “Every Falling Leaf Carries a Soul”.