Petulia's Rouge Tin

Petulia's Rouge Tin (simplified Chinese: 红粉; traditional Chinese: 紅粉; pinyin: Hóngfěn,[1] meaning "Blush" or "Rouge"[2]) is a 1991 novella by Chinese author Su Tong. Its official English translation, done by Jane Weizhen Pan and Martin Merz, was published by Penguin Specials in 2018.[3] Peter Gordon of the Asian Review of Books stated that the work's focus on the characters and their situations was an influence from Russian literature.[3]

It is set in the 1950s,[4] in Shanghai, when the new government began requiring former prostitutes to be re-educated.[3] Two former prostitutes, Petulia and Autumn Grace, are among those taken away to the Women's Labour Training Camp, even though their previous place of employment, Red Delight Pavilion, is still operating. Petulia spends three years,[4] there and develops her relationship with her longtime customer,[3] and husband, Mr. P'u, who tries to maintain his former quality of life after having assets seized by the new government. Autumn Grace escapes from the truck taking her to the camp and stays in a compound for Buddhist nuns.[4] Gordon stated that a "clear denouement or resolution" was not present in the book, and that this was also a Russian influence.[3]

The title is a reference to a piece of tin that is the only aspect remaining from the characters' pre-1949 lives.[3]

Writing style

An essay in Modern Chinese Literature, Volume 10 stated that it was an example of a work that had a "more straightforward, realistic description and greater thematic openness."[5] According to Gordon, the author "has great economy of language, saying a great deal in few words."[3] He characterised the reading pace as "brisk".[3]

The translators stated that the original Chinese version of the work used aspects of the grammar of "traditional vernacular literary Chinese", which the author used to "inject a nostalgic mood".[6] These features included referring to characters by names in place of using pronouns and not using quotation marks; the usage of pronouns and quotation marks in literary Chinese dated from the 1920s.[6]

Since Hanyu Pinyin had not yet been introduced to China in the time period of the setting, the translators chose to use Wade-Giles romanization.[7] The translators chose not to emulate the lack of pronouns nor the lack of quotation marks in the English version due to readability concerns.[6]

Characters

The translators rendered the names of the women characters into their literal meanings to highlight their roles in the stories, instead of keeping the names in a romanized form.[6]

  • Petulia (Chinese: 小萼; pinyin: Xiǎo È; Wade–Giles: Hsiao E/O) - Catherine Shipley of the Reading Chinese Network described her as "needy".[4] Her original Chinese name means the calyx of a flower; the translators decided that using "Petulia" has the "feel" of the Chinese name and has a "suggestive nature".[6]
  • Autumn Grace (Qiu Yi/Chiu I) - Shipley described her as "Strong-Headed".[4]
  • Mr. P'u - He is described by Shipley as "kind",[4] and by Gordon as "feckless" and unfortunate.[3] According to Gordon, he has more trouble adjusting to his new life than the two women do, and that P'u is "courageous when pushed, yet completely out of his depth when it comes to dealing with women."[3]
  • Lucky Phoenix (Ruifeng)

Reception

Gordon ranked the book four of five stars and called it "another winner".[3]

Shipley stated that the author "intelligently and creatively produced a story that allows the reader to gain an insight into a politically turbulent time, and has used a unique approach to do so."[4]

Henry Yunwei Wang, also of the Reading Chinese Network, stated that the original book had "brisk style of writing and exquisite command of language", and that the translation was a "brilliant English equivalent" in which the features of the original "are well reflected" and "shine through well".[4]

Adaptations

A film version, titled Blush, was made in 1994, directed by Li Shaohong. Another film version, 1995's Rouged Beauties (hongfen jiaren), was directed by Huang Shuqin.[2]

References
  1. "红分 (lit. Rouge)". Paper Republic. Retrieved 2018-11-05.
  2. Gunn, Edward. "Su Tong." In: Encyclopedia of Contemporary Chinese Culture. Taylor & Francis, 2009. ISBN 041577716X, 9780415777162. Pages 790-791. CITED: p. 790.
  3. Gordon, Peter (2018-06-25). "Raise the Red Lantern author pens another winner in Petulia's Rouge Tin, a Penguin Special". Asian Review of Books (published at the South China Morning Post). Retrieved 2018-11-05. - Original page
  4. "Petulia's Rouge Tin by Su Tong". University of Leeds. Retrieved 2018-11-05.
  5. Modern Chinese Literature, Volume 10. San Francisco State University Center for the Study of Modern Chinese Literature, 1998. p. 100. "Su Tong conveys the possibility of greater freedom of action once he further simplified his style in novellas such as "Hongfen" [Rouge] (1991)[...] These novellas offer[...]"
  6. Su, Tong. Petulia's Rouge Tin: Penguin Specials. Penguin UK, 8 June 2018. ISBN 1743773218, 9781743773215. Google Books PT7 (from "Translators' Note").
  7. Su, Tong. Petulia's Rouge Tin: Penguin Specials. Penguin UK, 8 June 2018. ISBN 1743773218, 9781743773215. Google Books PT6-PT7 (from "Translators' Note").

Further reading
  • Su, Tong. "Hongfen." In: Su Tong Zuopin ji (苏童作品集; "Selected Works of Su Tong"). Beiyue Art and Literature Press (Taiyuan), 1999. pp. 193–234.
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