Novel to Live Vs. China's Past Essay

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Live vs. China's Past

Memories of China's Past

In 1994, the Chinese celebrated film director Zhang Yimou produced a film adaptation of Yu Hua's novel by the same name To Live (Huozhe). The film received widespread acclaim from the international audience but was banned in mainland China and Yimou, as well as his wife who played the main female character in the film, were banned from making films for two years. That was somewhat an odd development since Yimou had modified the original novel to soften its criticism of the Chinese realities. It may be argued now that the original novel, its film adaptation, and censorship by the Chinese state all represent the significance of disparate retellings of China's recent past.

Since the Revolution of 1949, China went through a series of reforms and political and economic transformations. Each period within these transformations affected generations of Chinese artists, ordinary people, and politicians differently. It is not surprising then that China has a conflicting history-telling.

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People have different memories of what happened after the Revolution, during the land reform and the Great Leap Forward, consequences of Cultural Revolution, and the post-Mao economic reforms. And obviously the age difference between Yu Hua and director Yimou reflects some differences in the novel and the film. Yu Hua was a little child during the Cultural Revolution while Yimou was at school and had move vivid memories of the time.

Both the novel and the film revolve around the man named Fugui. He is a degenerate who cannot help his compulsive gambling. Due to his habits, he loses his wealth and temporarily his family. He is taken captive by the Nationalist Army of Chiang Kai Shek and later joins People Liberation Army. He eventually returns to his family and becomes a model citizen, only to find himself and his family in a state of bare survival. He….....

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