Fin-de-Siècle Splendor: Repressed Modernities of Late Qing Fiction, 1848-1911 is a 1997 non-fiction book by David Der-Wei Wang, published by Stanford University Press.
[1] Robert Hegel of Washington University in St. Louis stated that the book focuses on fiction "generally despised as backward, decadent, and certainly not modern" and that while it does not attempt to subvert the understanding of May Fourth Movement-era works itself, Wang argues that there were multiple new literary forms pursued in the post-Taiping era, not just intentionally Westernized writing.
[7] David Wang argued that until the time his book was published, these genres had not received sufficient attention from historians specializing in Chinese fiction nor from literary critics.
[10] This chapter discusses A Flower in a Sinful Sea (Niehai hua), The Nine-tailed Turtle (Jui wei gui), The Sing-song Girls of Shanghai,[12] the 1859 novel Huayue hen [zh] (花月痕 "Traces of the flower and the moon") by Wei Zi'an [zh] (魏子安, also known as Wei Xiuren 魏秀仁), and the 1849 novel Pinhua biaojian [zh] (Chinese: 品花寶鑑 "Precious Mirror for Judging Flowers") by Chen Sen,[4] as well as various fictional characters based on Sai Jinhua.
[4] Works discussed include the 1820s to 1903 series Shi gong'an [zh] (施公案; "The court cases of Judge Shi"), the 1853 work Dangkou zhi [zh] (蕩寇志; "Quell the Bandits") by Jin Shengtan, the Ernü Yingxiong Zhuan, the 1879 version of The Three Heroes and Five Gallants (Sanxia wuyi), the 1892 novel Peng gong'an [zh] (彭公案; "The court cases of Judge Peng") and its sequels,[15] the 1904 novel Nü yu hua (女獄花, "A Flower in a Woman's Prison") by Wang Miaoru, the 1906 novel Huo Diyu (活地獄; "Living Hell") by Li Boyuan, and The Travels of Lao Can.
Wang argues that Hu Shih, Lu Xun, and other literary figures in the May Fourth Movement failed to appreciate the late Qing grotesque expose genre.
[19] This chapter discusses Farewell My Concubine by Lilian Lee (Li Bihua); Red Sorghum by Mo Yan, which David Wang compares to late Qing wuxia works; and works by Li Ang, Jia Pingwa, Su Tong, and Wang Anyi.
[21] Elisabeth Eide, who wrote a review for the Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, wrote that the author ";largely succeeds" in demonstrating that Qing dynasty modernisms experienced a hiatus during the May Fourth Movement and later developed into those of the late 20th century, and that this chapter "offers many interesting reflections on literature in general and Chinese literature as such.
She stated that sometimes there was too much repetition, believing that Wang might have been unsure about the comprehension levels of his readers, and that there were errors in romanizations and other mistakes in typing.
[22] Hegel wrote that the book is equally "informative" and "fascinating to read" since Wang used "great enthusiasm and authority" when writing it.
[10] Michel Hockx wrote in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society that the book is "a joy to read" due to the author's "enthusiasm and devotion".
"[24] Xiaobing Tang of the University of Chicago wrote that overall the book "should be recognized as an important development in the much needed research on late-Qing fiction"; he disagreed with some of the conclusions made by Wang about the nature of the genre.
[25] J. W. Walls of Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries stated that the book was "Readable and riveting, competently and persuasively presented.
"[7] Williams stated that the arguments were done "cogently" and that it is "a major contribution to scholarship on late imperial and twentieth- century Chinese fiction.