Will Clem and Lilian Zhang in Shanghai 9 June 2009
Shanghai has unveiled a statue of the real-life female spy who became the inspiration for writer Eileen Chang’s Lust, Caution - in an effort to “restore the true history” and differentiate fact from fiction.
Zheng Pingru was an undercover Kuomintang agent who was executed by the Japanese in 1940 after a failed attempt to assassinate leading Shanghai collaborator Ding Mocun .
The unveiling of the statue coincides with the 95th anniversary of Zheng’s birth and the release of a new book that aims to set the record straight on her intelligence career.
The disparity between her true story and the fictitious Wong Chia-chi’s sexually charged relationship with her quarry, Mr. Yi - an amalgam of Zheng’s story with the author’s own love affair with a Japanese collaborator - has drawn criticism from Beijing for bringing a national heroine into disrepute.
Although the heroine in Chang’s short story fails to complete her mission because she falls in love with her target, KMT files have shown that Zheng’s downfall happened because her gun jammed.
The controversy reached a fever pitch after the release of Ang Lee’s award-winning, graphic erotic film version of the book in 2007.
The life-sized bronze statue was unveiled on Saturday in Fu Shou Yuan, a park in Qingpu, a satellite town to the west of Shanghai city, state and local media reported.
The statue depicts Zheng, 26, at the moment of her execution - hands bound, head turned away, feet off the ground and just beginning to fall to one side.
In a ceremony to mark the 95th anniversary of her birth, surviving relatives and neighbours were joined by Xu Hongxin , the author of the new book - Uncovering Archival Secrets of the Leading Female Character in Lust, Caution - a Woman Spy - and several other academics.
After the release of Lee’s film, an octogenarian from Los Angeles who claimed to be Zheng’s younger sister criticised its portrayal of the story, which she said strayed too far from the truth about her sister.
Zheng Jingzhi, who also claimed her mother was Japanese, said the film’s sex scenes were disrespectful to her sister’s memory.
Chang’s 28-page novella was published in 1983, after she first wrote a version in 1950. It is regarded as one of the author’s best works and also one of her most personal.
The relationship between the heroine and her target-cum-lover closely reflects Chang’s own love affair with Hu Lancheng , a member of the Japanese puppet government in Shanghai.
1 comment:
Statue aims to restore ‘truth’ about war heroine
Will Clem and Lilian Zhang in Shanghai
9 June 2009
Shanghai has unveiled a statue of the real-life female spy who became the inspiration for writer Eileen Chang’s Lust, Caution - in an effort to “restore the true history” and differentiate fact from fiction.
Zheng Pingru was an undercover Kuomintang agent who was executed by the Japanese in 1940 after a failed attempt to assassinate leading Shanghai collaborator Ding Mocun .
The unveiling of the statue coincides with the 95th anniversary of Zheng’s birth and the release of a new book that aims to set the record straight on her intelligence career.
The disparity between her true story and the fictitious Wong Chia-chi’s sexually charged relationship with her quarry, Mr. Yi - an amalgam of Zheng’s story with the author’s own love affair with a Japanese collaborator - has drawn criticism from Beijing for bringing a national heroine into disrepute.
Although the heroine in Chang’s short story fails to complete her mission because she falls in love with her target, KMT files have shown that Zheng’s downfall happened because her gun jammed.
The controversy reached a fever pitch after the release of Ang Lee’s award-winning, graphic erotic film version of the book in 2007.
The life-sized bronze statue was unveiled on Saturday in Fu Shou Yuan, a park in Qingpu, a satellite town to the west of Shanghai city, state and local media reported.
The statue depicts Zheng, 26, at the moment of her execution - hands bound, head turned away, feet off the ground and just beginning to fall to one side.
In a ceremony to mark the 95th anniversary of her birth, surviving relatives and neighbours were joined by Xu Hongxin , the author of the new book - Uncovering Archival Secrets of the Leading Female Character in Lust, Caution - a Woman Spy - and several other academics.
After the release of Lee’s film, an octogenarian from Los Angeles who claimed to be Zheng’s younger sister criticised its portrayal of the story, which she said strayed too far from the truth about her sister.
Zheng Jingzhi, who also claimed her mother was Japanese, said the film’s sex scenes were disrespectful to her sister’s memory.
Chang’s 28-page novella was published in 1983, after she first wrote a version in 1950. It is regarded as one of the author’s best works and also one of her most personal.
The relationship between the heroine and her target-cum-lover closely reflects Chang’s own love affair with Hu Lancheng , a member of the Japanese puppet government in Shanghai.
Post a Comment