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Nurture nation‘s fiction writers
编辑时间：2004/10/12 幻想的边疆
[China Daily; North American ed.]
Zheng Wenguang, acclaimed as the father of Chinese science fiction, passed away on June 17 in Beijing quietly. Zheng, 74, published Chinas first science fiction story in 1954, a tale which has been translated into several languages. In English, it is called "The Mirror Image of the Earth."
Few areas of the domestic media reported his death or his work in life and there are few who know his name.
Compared to the silence of Chinas media and indifference of the public towards Zhengs death and achievements, a latter-day British fantasy fiction author is faring quite differently.
The Wangfujing Xinhua Bookstore in Beijing was swamped by an unprecedented level of public demand and sold about 1,000 copies of J.K. Rowlings Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the fifth in the Harry Potter series, in just two days in June.
The plight of Zheng and his fellow Chinese authors bears witness to the gloomy picture of domestic fiction, which has been unsatisfactory both in terms of quality and quantity in recent years.
In 2002, there were more than 200 science fiction and other works of fantasy fiction published, of which 60 per cent are translations from abroad. Apart from adapted publications, works originally created by Chinese writers comprised a very low proportion.
At present there is only one periodical for the genre of science and fantasy nationwide, Science Fiction World, based in Sichuan Province of Southwest China.
When the craving of bookworms for this genre goes unmet by domestic productions, they shift their interest to writers and works from overseas.
As a proverb goes, a nation without creativity and imagination is a nation without a brilliant future. Science and fantasy fiction writers can stimulate and fire peoples imagination, cultivate their desire for knowledge and spread popular scientific knowledge.
Such a function is necessary given that those Chinese citizens with a basic grasp of science account for just 1.4 per cent of the total population, just 1/23 of that of the United States and 1/15 of that of the European Union, according to the China Association for Science and Technology.
In many Western countries, science fiction and fantasy fiction, apart from amusing readers, can imbue a scientific spirit, knowledge and help people understand the latest developments in science. In China, however, science and fantasy fiction has barely a position in the market, let alone giving full play to its potential to convey scientific knowledge.
The lack of science and fantasy authors is the main reason for this.
The genre, in addition to requiring a good command of language, needs a logical mind, a good imagination, and an interest and reasonable knowledge of scientific development. Zheng Wenguang, for example was also a research fellow with the Beijing Astronomical Observatory.
Regrettably, few Chinese authors have such a level of scientific knowledge. The imbalance in the quality of writers in literature and science can perhaps be traced to Chinas education system.
After the nine-year compulsory basic education, Chinese students are asked to choose from the humanities and the sciences as their focus of study in the higher grades. Such a choice is necessary for preparation for the entrance examination to institutions of higher learning.
Those opting for the humanities will continue to study history and politics, but not chemistry and physics. The other group will focus on the sciences to the detriment of the humanities. Although both of them continue to learn Chinese literature, orientation of their interests has become diversified.
And once they enter institutions of higher learning, both groups might have little opportunity or interest to explore the others fields.
When literature and science are separated, the creation of science fiction and fantasy loses its base.
Furthermore, the Chinese education emphasizes the training of students to work out standardized answers. Although it might be one means for testing students, it will also restrain their imagination and creativity through unifying their ways of thinking.
Hence, Chinas education authorities should pay more attention to the teaching of basic scientific knowledge and cultivating a childs interest in scientific development.
At the same time, literature should not be neglected no matter what subjects students opt for.
Science fiction and fantasy are genres that stand the test of time, as demonstrated most famously by "The Journey to the West" by Ming Dynastys Wu Chengen (1504-82). They also span the generations of readers, read and re-read by young and old with equal enthusiasm.
For the healthy development of Chinas science fiction and fantasy tale industry, tolerance, attention and support are needed. But most important of all, the cultivation of excellent writers and promoting the fascination for science among the young must be given top priority.
http://www.rednova.com/news/stories/1/2003/07/22/story110.html
posted by Yan
Oct. 12, 2004
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