The Old Capital, published in 1996, is a collection of short stories written by Taiwanese female author Chu Tien-hsin (Chinese: 朱天心).
The title of the book is borrowed from the Japanese writer Yasunari Kawabata's (Chinese/Japanese: 川端康成) novel The Old Capital, drawing parallels between the late 20th-century Taipei and the quiet, ancient, and timeless aspects of Kyoto, highlighting the disappearance of historical sites and the continuous silencing and rewriting of history in the wake of urbanization.
Breakfast at Tiffany’s (第凡內早餐) borrows its title from Truman Capote’s story with the same name; the title of Death in Venice (威尼斯之死) is the same as Thomas Mann’s iconic novel and its story content is related to “My Friend Alisa” (我的朋友阿里薩); Man of La Mancha (拉曼查志士) is not unlike a sequel to Chronicle of a Death Foretold (預知死亡紀事, whose title is from Gabriel García Márquez’s novel with the same name); Hungarian Water (匈牙利之水) is related to In Remembrance of My Buddies from the Military Compound, allowing readers to connect personal memories and imagination while reading.
[2] While analyzing the book The Old Capital, scholar Kenichiro Shimizu (Chinese/Japanese: 清水賢一郎) states that Chu's literary work centers on the frustration within memory and self-identity.
[3] Scholar Liou Liang-ya (Chinese: 劉亮雅) comments that Chu’s novel starts from a sense of loss felt by the military-dependent village community as they gradually lost their advantage after martial law was lifted.