Through a young boy's eyes

By Jiang Yuxia

The Chinese version of Le Sorgho Rouge, a novel set in the early years of China's Cultural Revolution (1966-76) and penned by French-Chinese writer Ya Ding, has recently been published in China, offering bitter observations of the period and examining the delicate relationship between father and son.

The book tells the story of a young boy's adventure during the mass movement. Nine-year-old Xiaoliang goes to live in a remote village in northern China with his family one year before the Cultural Revolution begins. His father, a loyal communist, serves as the prefect of the village and is committed to helping the locals shake off poverty. Then the Cultural Revolution breaks out.

As innocent as he is and fascinated by the propaganda, Xiaoliang becomes a member of the Little Red Guards, a school-children's organization responsible for hunting everything that is anti-revolutionary. Later his father, whom he admires and is proud of, is classified as a "capitalist." Fear and shame fall on the family following persecutions, accusations, criticizing and denouncing at public meetings.

Based on the author's own story, the book was a bestseller when it first came out in France in 1987. It won Ya a series of awards including the Prix Cazes and Prix de L'Asie and was shortlisted for Prix Goncourt, one of the most important French literary prizes.

The story is compelling as it is told from the point of view of a child, too young to really understand everything but told with the hindsight of an adult.

"My experience of that time is quite unforgettable and it was the most precious time in my life," translator-turned-writer Ya told the Global Times. 

Although the narrative tone of the boy sounds mature and sophisticated and more like an adult who is reflecting on his childhood memories, Ya explained that one should never overlook a boy's feelings.

"We always think that a 10-year-old boy won't be able to be aware of many things but his heart is quite enriched and he is very fine and sensitive with his feelings," Ya said. Boys are often shy with their feelings especially when it comes to what's between father and son, he added.

"The relationship between father and son is more complicated and obscure than that between mother and son," Ya commented. In the book, Xiaoliang is very proud of his father and proud of being the son of the prefect. "He loves his father as he represents the Communist Party of China; but later he is branded as the enemy of the Party. This confuses him."

Compared with Scar Literature, a genre of Chinese literature that portrays the grave sufferings the Cultural Revolution brought to society, Le Sorgho Rouge does not go deep into the destructive force that the movement brought to the village. "In the countryside we didn't go through what some of the people in the cities were suffering. Although people in the village suffered oppression there were still concerns for each other. After public criticizing and denouncing, people still showed humanity towards each other," the author recalled.
Author Ya Ding.

Ya began his career as a translator of French literature. In 1985 he won a youth translator award and 50,000 francs ($10,700) from the French government for translating French philosopher and novelist Jean-Paul Satre's masterpiece L'Age De Raison. He went to France to receive the award and has been residing there ever since.

Finding his translation skills not so useful in France, Ya turned to writing. "I didn't know how to write at that time so I began with my childhood stories, which were quite simple," Ya explained. At 31 Ya's first book was a success and he wrote several sequels.

Despite his background, Ya had someone else translate Le Sorgho Rouge. "I know that during translation, you have to rack your brain for one word, sometimes it may take three days. You have to work really hard to understand the author…However, if I translate my own book, I would not work so hard to find the meaning or connotation a foreign language tries to express. My translation would be an adaptation of the original book."

Now spending most of his time promoting cultural and business exchanges between France and China, Ya said that he doesn't have much time to sit down, sort out his thoughts and get down to writing.

"To write a book you need to live in another layer of life. You should let your thoughts flow like spring water...Nowadays Chinese literature is too flippant and impetuous…Some of the stories told in books have never been experienced by foreign readers. Some are too superficial. Literature should be able to bring readers your own thinking about life.…A great work is not how breathtaking the story is or what great philosophy it shows. It should be able to make readers feel more delicate and their lives more colorful."