Qiu Xiaolong, 51, says his first encounter with mystery fiction occurred around age 14 or 15, when he read Sherlock Holmes stories during the Cultural Revolution. "Of course I read the book by stealth at the time," he recalls. Japanese mystery films shown in China years later provided another source of inspiration.
Qiu, who arrived in the United States as a Ford Foundation fellow about 15 years ago, says he had not really expected to take up an academic career there and had initially planned to return to China. "But what happened in June 1989 [the Tiananmen Incident] totally changed my plan. I started writing in English around the same period.''
Qiu is presently winding up his fourth novel, which should be making its appearance in the second half of 2005.
Stories of crime and detection have a long history in China, but wouldn't you agree that modern mystery fiction hasn't developed to the extent it has in certain other countries?
I agree with your assessment. My friend Jeffrey Kinkley has written a book entitled "Chinese Justice, the Fiction," which has made a special study of this genre in contemporary China. In the 1980s, it was sometimes called "legal system literature," perhaps because "legal system" was a relatively new concept then. In the last one or two years, however, there has been a boom in TV crime series. They are so popular among Chinese audiences that the government has stipulated that these series can only be broadcast outside of prime time.
Have your books been translated into Chinese?
"Death of a Red Heroine" was translated by somebody into Chinese, and published, but it suffered a number of changes and cuts in the "editorial process." For instance, Shanghai becomes "H City." "A Loyal Character Dancer" and "When Red is Black" have also been translated into Chinese, but I don't know what kind of surgery they will undergo in the published versions.
All three of your works involve the legacy of China's Cultural Revolution, and the tensions between those who lived through it and those who were born afterward and know nothing about it. Is this based on your personal experiences?
The Cultural Revolution is always in the background of my life, and in my books too. You are right about the tensions between the generations; but within one individual, there may also be the drama of tension between the past (the Cultural Revolution) and the present (the materialistic transition).
How accurate is the background of your stories? Did you make a detailed study of China's police organization and police procedure?
It is not for me to say how accurate. Let me put it like this: My first book was translated into Chinese, and widely reviewed; but not a single review raised complaints over inaccuracies. I made a study of China's police organization, but ironically, I have recently studied more from watching Chinese crime TV series, which themselves may be copies from American and Japanese series.
Aside from spelling names using the hanyu pinyin system and introducing uniquely Chinese entities, such as foods or social customs, to foreign readers, what do you feel are the biggest difficulties when producing a readable work in English?
One difficulty has to be how much background information (or explanation) would be just enough -- instead of being too much or too little. For my implied readers (in English or in any non-Chinese language), I have to make the story easily understandable and enjoyable without going out of my way to explain. For me, the solution lies in details, nothing but details.
What is it about Shanghai that makes it a good setting for crime fiction?
I have not really thought about Shanghai in such a way. But Shanghai is the city where I spent my childhood and youth, and it's a matter of course for me to use it as a setting for my stories.
What have you got planned for your next novel. Will Chen Cao visit America?
I am finishing the next book, in which Chen Cao visits America as a member of the Chinese Writers' Delegation, but this is only a small part of the book.