Lao She (born Shu Qingchun, 1898/1899–1966) was a notable Chinese author of the Republican period and the Mao era. Although best known for his socially conscious realist works, his oeuvre ranges from children's fantasy to science fiction. He was also famous for his humor and irony and his use of the dialect of Beijing, his home city and the setting for many of his stories.
Lao She was born into a family of Manchu bannermen, who were basically a hereditary caste of soldiers, although militarily they had become mostly irrelevant by the late 19th century. His father died in Boxer Rebellion in 1900, and according to his mother, baby Lao She himself narrowly escaped death at the hands of looting foreign soldiers. Although he grew up in poverty, he managed to become the only literate person in his family and did well enough academically to receive a stipend for a normal school in Beijing, becoming a teacher after he graduated. In the early 1920s he got into touch with Protestant missionaries and officially converted to Christianity, with said missionaries then supporting his studies of English and a trip to in London, where he became a lecturer at the University of London's School of Oriental Studies in 1924. Influenced by British literature, he wrote three novels while living in London, including his break-through work Mr Ma and Son.
Returning to China in 1930, Lao She taught at different universities and started a family with the painter Hu Jieqing, becoming a full-time writer in 1936. The next year saw the publication of his most celebrated novel, known in English as either Camel Xiangzi or Rickshaw Boy. During the Sino-Japanese War, he was chosen as the chair of the All-China Resistance Association of Writers and Artists, as he had been politically neutral and could act as bridge between the Communist and Nationalists elements in the group. In 1945, Rickshaw Boy was published in the US and became a best-seller, although the English version was heavily rewritten by the translator, former State Department official Evan King. This success led to the State Department offering Lao She a two-year grant to come the US as a cultural ambassador, which he accepted partly out interest in American democracy and partly because he wanted to make sure future translations of his works would be more faithful to the originals. Although he was mostly succesful on this front, he was caught up in rising anti-Communist sentiment and was even investigated by the CIA, which probably influenced his decision to leave the US for the newly founded People's Republic of China in 1949.
In the PRC, Lao She was at first lauded as a hero and given the chance to travel to various Eastern Bloc and non-aligned nations. He also wrote new works, including the play Dragon Beard Ditch, which lauded the new government's efforts to improve the lives of the poor. However, his earlier works came under criticism for not conforming to the new official ideology, to which he responded during the "Hundred Flowers" campaign by defending artistic freedom and by writing his most famous play Teahouse, which (while set before the founding of the PRC) examined the effects of politics on the lives of ordinary people. Unfortunately, at the start of the Cultural Revolution in 1966 he was branded a counter-revolutionary and subjected to beatings in a "struggle session", after which he was found drowned in a lake. His death was officially ruled a suicide.
Lao She was post-humously rehabilated in 1978, after which he again became one of Mainland China's most celebrated 20th century authors. Among other honors, the Lao She Literary Award has been given since the year 2000 for authors from Beijing.
This author's works provide examples of:
- Cat Folk: In Cat Country, Mars in inhabited by walking, humanoid cats.
- Crapsack World: Neither the Martian city of cats in Cat Country nor the poverty-stricken slums of Beijing in Rickshaw Boy offer much hope for the down-trodden.
- Downer Ending: Rickshaw Boy ends with the poor protagonist basically having lost everything gained in the course of the novel, as well as the hopes he started out with.
- Dystopia: Cat Country is science fiction fable exploring the eponymous land of cat aliens, which basically has exaggerated versions of all the social problems of 1930s China.
- Inconsistent Spelling: Depending on the translation, the name of the landlady and her daughter in Mr Ma and Son (Wendou in Mandarin pronunciation) may be rendered as "Wendell" or "Wedderburn".
- Maligned Mixed Marriage: In Mr Ma and Son, a significant amount of the underlying dramatic tension during the latter parts of the novel comes from how British society would view the union of a Chinese man and a white woman. It is ultimately the reason why Mr Ma and Mrs Wedderburn decide not to marry each other.
- Multigenerational Household: Four Generations Under One Roof, as indicated by the title.
- Satire:
- Mr Ma and Son mocks British attitudes towards China while also (and perhaps more importantly, considering the target audience is Chinese) highlighting that the Chinese people need to let go of outdated attitudes (like Ma Senior's disdain for businessmen) and actively work to help their country to modernize (unlike the passive Ma Wei).
- Cat Country is a more bitter commentary on the social evils of Republican China, from wide-spread drug addiction to the status of women to political infighting, again pointing the finger at the Chinese people themselves.
- Yellow Peril: Early 20th century Western stereotypes of Chinese people as evil masterminds are thoroughly examined and mocked in Mr Ma and Son: the young Ma Wei bitterly resigns himself to the fact that his English landlady's daughter (whom he has a crush on) is comfortable making quote-unquote jokes about his father poisoning the tea in front of him, since Ma Wei is quite familiar with how his people are depicted in British popular fiction.