Martin Winter

M.A. Vienna University

Translator of "K" into German

 

Tolerance in Hong Ying's 1999 (2011)- trilogy and in "K". Author's tolerance; State's tolerance.

 

(In)tolerance has many facets in "K" and "Nüzi You Xing"('Far Goes The Girl').

 

Hong Ying's trilogy from the early nineties about the future set in Shanghai, New York and Prague might compare to Salman Rushdie's Satanic Verses, especially the middle part. The dominance of religion in politics (or politics in religion) is highlighted and ridiculed. There is much racism and related violence; the police are mixed up in brutal murders.

 

Hong Ying's tale about New York was at first not published in China. The other parts appeared in the magazine "Hua Cheng" before the whole novel came out in Taiwan. Sexuality is crucial throughout. Shanghai has a woman's gang castrating men. Prague pits a new boxer movement against Chinese business. A secret weapon kills terrorists and hostages.

 

In New York, Tibetan Buddhists have converted the World Trade Center. (The novel is about to be re-issued.) Two sects fight for control of lower Manhattan. The narrator gets pregnant with a Living Buddha.

 

The story was printed in another magazine. I am looking for echoes. The trilogy seems to be selling fine in Taiwan, it has been readily available the last few years. The mainland needs more re-issues.

 

An article about the trilogy's first novel in CND January 03, 2003 acknowledges that Chinese women are treated badly, but some people are waking up. Is it possible to describe the actual situation? How radical is Hong Ying's work, how tolerant (towards whom)?

 

"K" has been banned, Hong Ying has appealed in court. Racism plays a major role in the novel, along with sexual taboos and the brutality of the Communists. Julian's tolerance for opium is tested, as is the narrator's tolerance for alcohol and other drugs in the trilogy. But what is the issue in detail? What is Hong Ying's challenge, what are the reactions?