The Power of Weakness: Four Stories of the Chinese Revolution (Two By Two)

The Power of Weakness juxtaposes stories by Lu Hsun, revered as “the most important figure in twentieth-century Chinese letters,” and Ding Ling, his successor in writing in a realistic style about life in modern China.

Six works of astringent social commentary locate moments of conflict when tradition and notions of social conformity are in flux. In his speech “What Happens After Nora Leaves Home?” (a reference to Ibsen) and his short stories “New Year’s Sacrifice” and “Regret for the Past,” Lu Hsun exposes how the anti-Confucian nationalist movement of the 1920s liberated women’s thoughts and expanded their expectations only to leave them stranded by outmoded customs and financial dependency. Ding Ling, reacting to the clash between the nationalist and communist movements dating from the late 1920s, moves on from Lu Hsun’s sentiments in her feminist speech “Thoughts on March 8 (Women’s Day)” and in her more hopeful short stories “New Faith” and “When I Was in Xia Village.”

Named the “commander of China’s cultural revolution” by Mao Zedong, Lu Hsun (1881–1936) is one of the most influential writers of the twentieth century.

Ding Ling (1904–1985) was one of modern China’s most famous writers and cultural revolutionaries.