Chairman Mao Would Not Be Amused – Fiction From Today (44 page)

YANG ZHENGGUANG ("Moonlight over the Field of Ghosts"), a native of Shanxi province, was born in 1957. Besides fiction, he also writes film scripts.

YU HUA ("The Past and the Punishments"), born in Hangzhou in 1960, works in a cultural center in Haiyan county, Zhejiang province. He started publishing fiction in 1983.

"First Person" was first published as "Diyi rencheng" in
Zhongshan
(1992): 2. Copyright © 1992 by Shi Tiesheng. Printed by permission of the author. Translation copyright © 1995 by Thomas Moran.

"The Field" was first published as "Neinian de tianye" in
Zhongshan
(1994): 1. Copyright © 1994 by Hong Ying. Printed by permission of the author. Translation copyright © 1995 by Susan McFadden.

"The Brothers Shu" was first published as "Shu Nong" in 1988. Anthologized as "Shujia xiongdi" in
Shaonian xue
, Nanjing, 1993. Copyright © 1993 by Su Tong. Printed by permission of the author. Translation copyright © 1995 by Howard Goldblatt.

"A String of Choices" was first published as "Xuanze de li-cheng" in 1987. Anthologized in
Qiuxing qiyu ji
, Beijing, 1990. Copyright © 1990 by Wang Meng. Printed by permission of the author. Translation copyright © 1993 by Zhu Hong. English translation reprinted by permission of
Chicago Review
.

"Sham Marriage" was first published as "Jia hun" in 1986. Anthologized in
Hou tu: Lüliangshan yinxiang
, Taipei, 1988. Copyright © 1988 by Li Rui. Printed by permission of the author. Translation copyright © 1995 by William Schaefer and Fenghua Wang.

"The Day I Got to Xi'an " was first published as "Wo daoda Xi'an neitian" in
Beijing
wenxue
(1987): 2. Copyright © 1987 by Duo Duo. Printed by permission of the author. Translation copyright © 1995 by John A. Crespi.

"Sunshine Between the Lips" was first published as "Zuichun li de yangguang" in
Zuichun li de yangguang
, Wuhan, 1992. Copyright © 1992 by Chen Ran. Printed by permission of the author. Translation copyright © 1995 by Shelley Wing Chan.

"Grass on the Rooftop" was first published as "Wuding shang de qingcao" in
Zhongguo
(1986): 6. Copyright © 1986 by Li Xiao. Printed by permission of the author. Translation copyright © 1989 by Madeline K. Spring. English translation reprinted by permission of
Manoa
.

"The Past and the Punishments" was first published as "Wang-shi yu xingfa" in 1989. Anthologized in
Xiaji taifeng
, Taipei, 1993. Copyright © 1993 by Yu Hua. Printed by permission of the author. Translation copyright © 1995 by Andrew F. Jones.

"The Cure" was first published as "Ling yao " in
Shen liao
, Beijing, 1993. Copyright © 1993 by Mo Yan. Printed by permission of the author. Translation copyright © 1995 by Howard Goldblatt.

"Green Earth Mother" was first published as "Lii du mu" in 1988. Anthologized in
Nü lao
, Taipei, 1990. Copyright © 1990 by Ai Bei. Printed by permission of the author. Translation copyright © 1990 by Howard Goldblatt. English translation reprinted from
Red Ivy Green Earth Mother
by permission of Gibbs Smith.

"When I Think of You Late at Night, There's Nothing I Can Do" was first published as "Dao heiye wo xiang ni meibanfa" in
Zhongguo xiaoshuo
: 1988, Hong Kong, 1989. Copyright © 1988 by Cao Naiqian. Printed by permission of the author. Translation copyright © 1995 by Howard Goldblatt.

"The Summons" was first published as "Buxiang de huhan-sheng" in
Qingxiang
(1993): 1. Copyright © 1993 by Can Xue. Printed by permission of the author. Translation copyright © 1995 by Jian Zhang and Ronald R. Janssen.

"The Ancestor" was first published as "Zuzong" in
Zhongshan
(1993): 6. Copyright © 1993 by Bi Feiyu. Printed by permission of the author. Translation copyright © 1995 by John Balcom.

"Moonlight over the Field of Ghosts" was first published as "Guidi shang de yueguang" in
Zhongguo
(1986): 9. Copyright © 1986 by Yang Zhengguang. Printed by permission of the author. Translation copyright © 1989 by Ellen Lai-Shan Yeung. English translation reprinted by permission of
Manoa
.

"Remembering Mr. Wu You" was first published as "Zhuiyi Wu You xiansheng" in
Mi zhou
, Beijing, 1989. Copyright © 1989 by Ge Fei. Printed by permission of the author. Translation copyright © 1995 by Howard Goldblatt.

"Footsteps on the Roof" was first published as "Wuding shang de jiaobu" in 1989. Anthologized in
Wuding shang de jiaobu
, Wuhan, 1992. Copyright © 1992 by Chen Cun. Printed by permission of the author. Translation copyright © 1995 by Hu Ying.

"Willow Waist" was first published as "Xi yao " in
Taiyang chu-shi
, Wuhan, 1992. Copyright © 1992 by Chi Li. Printed by permission of the author. Translation copyright © 1995 by Scott W. Galer.

"The Sleeping Lion" was first published as "Shui shi" in
Zuo-pin
, 1985. Copyright © 1985 by Kong Jiesheng. Printed by permission of the author. Translation copyright © 1995 by Susan McFadden.

"Fritter Hollow Chronicles" was first published as "You-bingwa jishi" in
Huacheng
(1993): 6. Copyright © 1993 by Wang Xiangfu. Printed by permission of the author. Translation copyright © 1995 by Howard Goldblatt.

[1]
The Huai-Hai Campaign, stretching from November 6, 1948, to January 10, 1949, was the second of three decisive battles contributing to the ultimate defeat of the Nationalists by the Communists.

[2]
Reference to a comic character in Lu Xun's short story "The True Story of Ah Q."

[3]
Pronounced WOO-YO.

[4]
In the late 1960s, Lin Biao and Jiang Qing pronounced that Mao Zedong thought was the "peak" of Marxist-Leninist ideology.