{"product_id":"the-adventures-of-ma-suzhen-an-heroic-woman-takes-revenge-in-shanghai-paperback","title":"The Adventures of Ma Suzhen: 'An Heroic Woman Takes Revenge in Shanghai' - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003ePaul Bevan\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe comic novel, \u003ci\u003eThe Adventures of Ma Suzhen, \u003c\/i\u003e was written during a highpoint in the popularity of \u003ci\u003exia\u003c\/i\u003e \"knight-errant\" fiction. It is an action-packed tale of a young woman who takes revenge for her brother, Ma Yongzhen, a gangster and performing strongman, who has been murdered by a rival gang in China's most cosmopolitan city, Shanghai. After publication of the book in 1923, the character of Ma Suzhen appeared on stage, and subsequently in a film made by the Mingxing Film Company. The book version translated here, displays a delightful combination of the \u003ci\u003exia \u003c\/i\u003eand popular\"Mandarin Ducks and Butterflies\" genres, with additional elements of \u003ci\u003eGong'an\u003c\/i\u003e \"court case\" fiction. The translation is followed by an essay that explores the background to the legend of Ma Suzhen - a fictional figure, whose exhilarating escapades reflect some of the new possibilities and freedoms available to women following the founding of the Chinese Republic.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eBack Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eIf you love \u003ci\u003ewuxia\u003c\/i\u003e (\"knight-errant\" tales), this book is an absolute must-read. Charming and delightfully humorous, it follows the adventures and bloodstained justice of the effervescent heroine, Ma Suzhen. Bevan's superb writing style and helpful introduction make this a wonderful initiation into Chinese Republican popular fiction and the world of \u003ci\u003ewuxia\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eDr Amy Matthewson\u003c\/b\u003e, author of \u003ci\u003eCartooning China: 'Punch', Power, and Politics in the Victorian Era.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePart newspaper shocker, part fact, part invention and many miles from \u003ci\u003eThe Dream of the Red Chamber\u003c\/i\u003e, this is the sort of story people loved to read in early-twentieth-century China - an exciting and amusing example of truly popular Chinese fiction. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eDr Frances Wood\u003c\/b\u003e, retired curator of the Chinese Collections in the British Library and author of many books, including \u003ci\u003eGreat Books of China\u003c\/i\u003e(2017).\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe comic novel, \u003ci\u003eThe Adventures of Ma Suzhen, \u003c\/i\u003e was written during a highpoint in the popularity of \u003ci\u003exia\u003c\/i\u003e \"knight-errant\" fiction. It is an action-packed tale of a young woman who takes revenge for her brother, Ma Yongzhen, a gangster and performing strongman, who has been murdered by a rival gang in China's most cosmopolitan city, Shanghai. After publication of the book in 1923, the character of Ma Suzhen appeared on stage, and subsequently in a film made by the Mingxing Film Company. The book version translated here, displays a delightful combination of the \u003ci\u003exia \u003c\/i\u003eand popular\"Mandarin Ducks and Butterflies\" genres, with additional elements of \u003ci\u003eGong'an\u003c\/i\u003e \"court case\" fiction. The translation is followed by an essay that explores the background to the legend of Ma Suzhen - a fictional figure, whose exhilarating escapades reflect some of the new possibilities and freedoms available to women following the founding of the Chinese Republic.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eDr Paul Bevan\u003c\/b\u003e is Departmental Lecturer in Modern Chinese Literature and Culture at the University of Oxford. His current research addresses a variety of themes concerning popular fiction and the visual arts as they appeared in periodicals and magazines published in Shanghai during the first decades of the twentieth century. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003ePaul Bevan is Departmental Lecturer in Modern Chinese Literature and Culture at the University of Oxford. From 2018 to 2020 he worked as Christensen Fellow in Chinese Painting at the Ashmolean Museum. Paul has taught modern Chinese literature, history, and visual culture at the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, and the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). His primary research interests concern the impact of Western art and literature on China during the Republican Period (1912-1949), particularly with regard to periodicals and magazines. His research on artists George Grosz, Frans Masereel, and Miguel Covarrubias, all of whom worked for Vanity Fair, has resulted in extensive research on both Chinese and Western pictorial magazines. Paul's first book \u003cem\u003eA Modern Miscellany - Shanghai Cartoon Artists, Shao Xunmei's Circle and the Travels of Jack Chen, 1926-1938\u003c\/em\u003e, Leiden: Brill, 2015, was hailed as \"a major contribution to modern Chinese studies\"; his second: \u003cem\u003e\"Intoxicating Shanghai\" Modern Art and Literature in Pictorial Magazines during Shanghai's Jazz Age\u003c\/em\u003e was published by Brill in April 2020.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 131\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.33 x 8.27 x 5.83 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIllustrated:\u003c\/strong\u003e Yes\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e December 05, 2022\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47444292042930,"sku":"9783030890377","price":89.08,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0770\/3891\/1666\/files\/381260665705a28496f61fd7fe0f94e2.webp?v=1778702562","url":"https:\/\/box.dadyminds.org\/products\/the-adventures-of-ma-suzhen-an-heroic-woman-takes-revenge-in-shanghai-paperback","provider":"DADYMINDS BOX","version":"1.0","type":"link"}