The Past Is Not Like Smoke (Third Edition)

◎2004 China Times Top Ten Books of the Year, 2004 United Daily News Reader's Non-Literary Book of the Year Award◎A classic of contemporary Chinese literature that sold 100,000 copies, banned by Chinese authorities in 2006

This book depicts the fate and destiny of a group of intellectuals during a great era. Zhang Lihe, through the perspective of a younger generation, profiles her parents' friends—Shi Liang, Chu Anping, Zhang Boju, Kang Tongbi, Nie Cannu, Luo Longji, and others. Amid the bloody turmoil of mainland China's Anti-Rightist Movement and the Cultural Revolution, swept by the red tide of purges, liquidations, and struggles, the grudges and hatreds between these individuals, as well as the subtle twists and turns of human nature, are captured through her delicate brushstrokes, unique perspective, and profound intellectual cultivation, capturing their character and reflecting the landscape of an era.

"The Past Is Not Like Smoke" is the most detailed and vivid portrait yet of how China's upper-class intellectuals faced the CCP's political upheaval. Zhang Lihe portrays these intellectuals not simply as helpless victims of authoritarian rule; they possess idealistic passion and naive persistence, a servility to political power, and a pursuit of the joys of life. Furthermore, they harbor arrogance, vanity, selfishness, cruelty, jealousy, and snobbery. Whether they were politically zealous or indifferent to fame and fortune, they were caged birds under Mao Zedong's policy of "encircling the upper echelons of political activity." Only when the brutal and ruthless political storm swept over them did they, like the last nobles, manage to embody and maintain some degree of personal integrity and dignity. - Chen Yung-fa (Academician of the Academia Sinica)

When studying political history in Taiwan, the group of people associated with the Democratic League are like ghosts. Teachers occasionally talk about them, often with contempt. Liberals and centrists seem to be a kind of "shame of others." Unexpectedly, for this generation of elites who firmly believed that the new China could have freedom and democracy, 1957 was a greater rupture and catastrophe. Zhang Yi, the daughter of the ghost of the times, and her endless memoir writing filled in the pages of history torn off by the lies of those in power. I finally know the whereabouts of those souls in the abyss. Her stories are so touching and emotional. Sometimes they are as cold as a knife, and sometimes they are as hot as fire. It is difficult not to be knocked down by those six stories one by one. What is heart-wrenching? Just read it. - Chen Hao

This book is astonishing because the author is able to face the complexity of history and the weight of life and death, yet handle it with ease. The author transcends the absolute good and absolute evil of human nature, presenting a true state of being both good and evil, neither good nor evil, which is convincing and moving. People often see history as a story of victors and losers. The author and many of his contemporaries lost their families and lives in the dark winds of politics, but they did not cry or accuse others. Instead, they acted with humor and composure. Why should the winners take the whole bowl? This is the aesthetics of the loser, Zhang Yihe's Swan Song, the victory of the lowercase "man". - Wu Jiwen

Six stories, a profile of an era. In 1957, Mao Zedong declared, "Things are changing," and countless families were torn apart, their wives and children separated. Zhang Lihe writes history with memory, leaving a record of the times. This group, caught between the lines, neither side is welcome, neither inside nor outside, called "comrades of the Chinese Communist Party" by the Kuomintang and "rampant rightists" by the Communist Party, destined to be swallowed up by the storms of the times. Yet, even in the face of immense and intractable struggle, they remained unyielding, enduring humiliation to preserve the "truth" in their character. This is what the term "aristocrat" means! "Hundreds of clear birds seem to welcome guests, in the midst of emotion without thought." When Zhang Yihe's book was published, paper became a treasure in Luoyang. Its value lies not necessarily in its "correct thoughts," but in its "true feelings," which are precisely what is most scarce in our time. Because of its scarcity, it is needed. It is no wonder that this book can move people and bring them to tears. —Fu Yue'an

2022-02-15

時報出版

448

9789571396842