Acknowledgments
Introduction: Does Science Fiction Dream of a Chinese New Wave?, by
Mingwei Song
Part I: Other Realities
1. Regenerated Bricks, by Han Song (translated by Theodore
Huters)
2. The Village Schoolteacher, by Liu Cixin (translated by
Christopher Elford and Jiang Chenxin)
3. Histories of Time: The Luster of Mute Porcelain (excerpts), by
Dung Kai-cheung (translated and introduced by Carlos Rojas)
4. The Dream Devourer (chapters 5–7), by Egoyan Zheng (translated
by Cara Healey)
5. The Demon-Enslaving Flask, by Xia Jia (translated by Linda Rui
Feng)
Part II: Other Us
6. The Poetry Cloud, by Liu Cixin (translated by Chi-yin Ip and
Cheuk Wong)
7. “Science Fiction”: A Chapter of Daughter, by Lo Yi-chin
(translated by Thomas Moran and Jingling Chen)
8. Balin, by Chen Qiufan (translated by Ken Liu)
9. The Radio Waves That Never Die, by La La (translated by Petula
Parris-Huang)
10. 1923: A Fantasy, by Zhao Haihong (translated by Nicky Harman
and Pang Zhaoxia)
Part III: Other Futures
11. The Passengers and the Creator, by Han Song (translated by
Nathaniel Isaacson)
12. The Reincarnated Giant, by Wang Jinkang (translated by Carlos
Rojas)
13. The Rain Forest, by Chi Hui (translated by Jie Li)
14. The Demon’s Head, by Fei Dao (translated by David Hull)
15. Songs of Ancient Earth, by Bao Shu (translated by Adrian
Thieret)
Notes
Recommended Reading
Contributors
Mingwei Song is associate professor of Chinese at Wellesley
College. He is the author of Young China: National Rejuvenation and
the Bildungsroman, 1900-1959 (2015).
Theodore Huters is professor emeritus in the Department of Asian
Languages and Cultures at the University of California, Los
Angeles. His books include Bringing the World Home: Appropriating
the West in Late Qing and Early Republican China (2005).
A fascinating anthology of some of the contemporary stories coming
out of China today . . . The stories represent just a slice of
China’s science fiction community, but it’s an engrossing window
into a fascinating body of work.
*The Verge*
These stories range from deeply philosophical speculative fiction
to traditional tropes, like space battles and interstellar
civilizations. Song and Huters’s introduction places the stories in
the context of post-1989 political trends on the Mainland, and
their footnotes make the volume accessible while also offering
further avenues to interested readers (for example, texts on the
history of the Warring States period or the poetry of Li Bai).
*Times Literary Supplement*
A definitive tour of some of the most influential landmarks of
contemporary Chinese sf. Highly recommended.
*Ken Liu, author of The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories
and The Grace of Kings*
Science fiction is the most important literary phenomenon in
twenty-first-century China. In a culture dominated by realism of
various brands throughout the twentieth century, the surge of
science fiction in the new millennium bespeaks not only a literary
renovation but also the changing political ethos and intellectual
visions of China. From star wars to spacy odysseys,
extraterrestrial encounters to cybernetic adventures, contemporary
Chinese science fiction projects utopian dreams and dystopian
nightmares, unspeakable taboos and undreamed-of marvels. The
Reincarnated Giant features fifteen masterpieces from both China
and the Sinophone world. It is a must read for anyone curious about
the intriguing mythology of a rising China.
*David Der-wei Wang, Edward C. Henderson Professor of Chinese
Literature, Harvard University*
The Reincarnated Giant is a unique contribution to the field of
global science fiction, making available to English-language
readers some of the most exciting and accomplished
twenty-first-century sf by writers from China, Hong Kong, and
Taiwan. From the grotesque aesthetics of the title story to the
sublime aesthetics of stories such as Liu’s “The Poetry Cloud,”
this anthology provides a broad perspective on an increasingly
significant body of sf story-telling for the twenty-first
century.
*Veronica Hollinger, professor emerita, Trent University, and
editor, Science Fiction Studies*
The volume is timely for the field of Chinese science fiction
studies. The editors’ selection of specific texts for inclusion and
Mingwei Song’s comprehensive introduction are an accurate survey of
contemporary Chinese sf writing. These beautifully written and
translated stories will capture the imagination of most
readers.
*Hua Li, Montana State University*
In showcasing representative works of science fiction by authors
from Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the People’s Republic of China, The
Reincarnated Giant provides readers with a fascinating and
multifaceted glimpse into China’s near (and not-so-near?)
future(s). Thank you to the writers, translators, and editors for
the existence of this work of scholarship and art. It is timely and
timeless. It is stunning. It is necessary.
*Seo-young Chu, Queens College*
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