Book Review:

They shall not be forgotten.

3 May 2003
Straits Times
English
(c) 2003 Singapore Press Holdings Limited

Songs Of The South showcases the manuscripts and photos of 186 pioneer Chinese writers, who influenced the literary scene here.

WAVES of writers from China washed onto the shores of Singapore and Malaysia from the 1920s to 1965 and left deep imprints on the development of the Chinese literary scene here.

To ensure that their influence is not forgotten, the most comprehensive book on them has been written.

Titled Songs Of The South: Research Materials On Chinese Authors, 1920-1965, Line is overdrawn it features the works and words of 186 pioneer Chinese writers, and was launched on Tuesday.

The 400-page Chinese-language book lists brief biographies of the writers and showcases archival materials like manuscripts, letters and photographs.

It is an effort by the National Library Board and the Singapore Literary Society, a society of Chinese-language writers. A total of 1,500 copies have been printed.

Mr Lai Yeen Pong, director of the library board's Asian Library Services, said the book will hopefully increase Singaporeans' awareness and stimulate their interest in the rich cultural heritage.

The writers featured include household names like Ba Jin, who merits a mention even though he spent all of eight hours in Singapore in January 1927, en route from China to France.

But eight hours were enough for the writer, most famous for his novels Family, Spring and Autumn (Jia, Chun and Qiu), to pen an essay describing the sights of colonial Singapore.

Other big names with a Singapore connection - though sometimes fleeting - include bilingual writer Han Suyin, who came here twice in 1952 and 1959 as a doctor, and Beijing author and playwright Lao She, who taught at Anglo-Chinese Secondary School for six months in 1929 and wrote a children's story based here.

An extract from Lao She's story, titled A Birthday In Xiao Po, goes: 'The noises of worms outside the house, the moist and mildly sweet breeze blowing outside the village and the voices of Indians singing as they passed by, make one feel like going out and lying on the grass to watch the stars.'

Other authors may be less famous but nonetheless contributed to the development of the Chinese literary scene here.

Mainly from Guangzhou and Fujian, they brought with them revolutionary literary practices, such as the use of the vernacular form rather than the classical one.

Many also helped spur the development of different literary forms such as plays.

For example, the late playwright Du Bian, said to be the most important Malayan playwright of the 1930s, is credited with pioneering the development of Chinese theatre in Singapore and Malaya in the 1930s.

He is famous not only as a playwright, but also as a theatre practitioner and critic.

These Chinese writers enlivened the Chinese literary scene in Malaya and Singapore, working mainly as pioneering journalists, editors and teachers.

Society chairman K.C. Yap, 68, said: 'Even though the quality of writing in the publications of the time - 1930s to 1940s - was quite bad, they still stuck it out.'

Among the 186 are 13 women of letters, including bilingual columnist Li Lien Fung as well as Shen Zi Jiu, a writer who championed women's rights.

The writers made their way down south in three broad waves.

The first was from the 1920s to 1930, when they were pushed out by the social disorder that resulted from China's civil war.

The second was from 1930 to the late 1930s, which also saw Japanese encroachment in north-east China.

Finally, the full-scale Japanese invasion of China, from the late 1930s, saw many Chinese escaping to the southern seas, though only to face the same foes in tropical jungles during the Japanese Occupation.

The book cuts off in 1965 as that year marked Singapore's independence.

STARTING FROM BLANK

The idea for the book arose from a successful exhibition, the Manuscript And Pictorial Exhibition On Chinese Authors In Early Singapore, held at the World Book Fair in June 2001.

The library and society members thought it would be a good idea to compile the material featured at the exhibition into a handy reference guide.

Tracking down additional archival materials and compiling them for the book took Mr Yap 15 months.

He also flew to Hongkong, Malaysia and China to look for the writers or their descendants.

'It started out a complete blank,' said Mr Yap, a retired teacher and principal, in Mandarin.

'There was no way of knowing how many writers there were. We worked from memory and from asking friends. We didn't know where these people were.'

The wide contacts he made in heading the literary society helped and he eventually managed to trace existing writers or their families either here or in China.

He was especially touched by how some people went out of their way to help him.

For example, the grandson of famous modernist writer Yu Dafu, the author of Chenlun (Sinking Into Vice, 1921), agreed to meet Mr Yap in Xiamen, flying in all the way from Zhejiang, near Shanghai, even though he was rushing to go to Fuzhou the next day.

Mr Yu Junfeng, chairman of the Yu Dafu research society, donated 20 books written by his grandfather, along with some photographs, to the National Library Board's collection.

Others readily gave up copies of rare books, like a book-seller who donated a first-run edition of the poetry collection of Feng Jiaoyi, who died at 27 in 1940. Only 50 copies of the book were printed.

Archival materials collected for the book project will be restored and scanned and put on the Internet by around 2005, said Mr Lai.

He hoped that those who are holding on to valuable literary documents would donate them to the library's collection.

Putting the book together cost between $40,000 and $50,000, with most of it coming from the Lee Foundation and the National Arts Council, said Mr Yap.

He added that compiling the book was not easy but worth the effort.

'The aim is not to lose traces of those who have left a mark here,' he said.

'These pioneers have worked quietly to promote literature. They deserve a lot of credit for leading the way.'

The hard-cover version of Songs Of The South: Research Materials On Chinese Authors is priced at $45 and the soft cover is $30. They are on loan at all branches of the National Library and can be bought at Xinhua Cultural Enterprises (Bras Basah Complex #02-101, Bain Street, tel: 6337-2338).

Send your comments to stlife@sph.com.sg

WRITERS' WHO'S WHO

QIU SHUYUAN (1874-1941)

A cultural celebrity of his time who counted Qing reformer Kang Youwei as his friend, this native of Fujian came to Singapore as early as 1881 and set up newspapers and wrote poems. It is said that he might have coined the name Xin Zhou (literally meaning Star State) for Singapore.

YU DAFU (1896-1945)

A prominent May Fourth writer who was born in Fuyang, Zhejiang, he came to Singapore in 1938 and is considered one of the most influential among the sojourning writers. He helped edit the Sin Chew Jit Poh supplement, among other publications, and his fame helped attract articles from writers like Mao Dun. He was also active in promoting young writers.

LIAN SHISHENG (1900-1973)

Another prominent journalist, Lian came here from Fujian in 1947 and was the chief editor of Nanyang Siang Pao for over 20 years. He was renowned for his essays. His output was so voluminous and wide that it was said that from the 1940s to the early 1970s, it was impossible for any Chinese-language reader not to have read his works.

LING SHUHUA (1904-1990)

The Beijing-born writer, a classmate of writer Bing Xin, came here to teach at Nanyang University from 1956-60 and was credited with promoting young writing talents. She was also famous as a painter and held an exhibition here in 1957.

LIU BEIAN (1906-1995)

An outstanding poet and calligrapher, the Guangdong-born Liu fused Malay words with classical Chinese forms. A winner of local and South-east Asian literature awards, he was also active in chairing literary societies.

HU LANGMAN (1908-1991)

Deemed a key figure in the development of the Chinese press here, Hu came here from Fujian in 1929 and edited many newspapers and was also active in setting up new ones in Malaya. He was also famous for a well-received essay written in memory of Yu Dafu.

FANG XIU (1921-)

Fang pioneered and is synonymous with research into Malayan-Singapore literary history and is also a poet and essayist. The Chaozhou-born writer has published many books on the topic.

YAO ZI (1924-1982)

A novelist, essayist and editor, Yao, whose real name was Zheng Mengzhou, was known for his sympathetic depiction of women who had fallen into the lowest depths of society. The Fujian-born writer arranged for a literary fund to be set up upon his death, to support local writers.

Source: Songs Of The South: Research Materials On Chinese Authors In Singapore, 1920-1965.