Love in a City of Chaos

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Love in a City of Chaos (亂都之戀) is a collection of new poems written by Chang Wo-chun, a Taiwanese writer during the Japanese ruling period. It was published in December 1925 and is the first Chinese-language poetry collection published in Taiwan.[1] The book was out of print in Taiwan for a long time, but was rediscovered by the historian Huang Tien-heng in 1986 and reprinted by the Liaoning University Press in China in 1987.[2]

Plot[edit]

The cover of the book is marked as a "lyric poetry collection". The so-called "City of Chaos" refers to Peking (now Beijing), China, in the 1920s, when the Fengtian and Zhili warlords were at war and the people in and around Beijing were in a state of panic. The poems in this collection express Chang Wo-chun's emotional journey during this period of his love life. Because the girl's parents opposed their relationship at the time, the two of them eventually eloped to Taiwan. Therefore, this work also reflects their spirit of pursuing marital autonomy at the time.[3]

Reception[edit]

Love in a City of Chaos is generally believed to be based on Chang Wo-chun's own love experience, breaking through the traditional constraints of society at that time.[4][5] Based on the unique themes and genres, Love in a City of Chaos has been included in some literary critics' works of criticism on Taiwanese literary history. Chen Fang-ming in A History of Modern Taiwanese Literature affirms that it is "a landmark event, because it is the first book of vernacular Chinese poetry in a colonial society (referring to Taiwan, Penghu, and other Japanese colonies), and it also shows Chang Wo-chun's determination to practice his own literary theories with concrete works."[6]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Huang, Te-shih (1993). "五四對臺灣文學的影響". 評論集 [Collection of Reviews]. Taipei: Taipei County Cultural Center.
  2. ^ Xiang, Yang. "藏家風範，泱泱足式──追憶黃天橫先生與張我軍《亂都之戀》出土的舊事" [Exemplar of a Collector: Memories of Mr. Huang Tien-heng and the Rediscovery of 'Love in the City of Chaos' by Chang Wo-chun]. 文訊 (369): 37–39.
  3. ^ Ku, Chi-t'ang (1989). 臺灣新詩發展史 [History of the Development of New Poetry in Taiwan]. Taipei: Wen-Shih-Che.
  4. ^ Hung, Chiu-yen (1989). "懷才不遇的張我軍兄". In Chang, Kuang-chih (ed.). 張我軍詩文集 [Collection of Poems and Essays by Chang Wo-chun] (2 ed.). Taipei: Pure Literature.
  5. ^ Lu, Hsing-chang (1996). "張我軍新詩創作的再探討". 漂泊與鄉土──張我軍逝世四十週年紀念論文集 [Wandering and Hometown: Collection of Essays in Commemoration of the Fortieth Anniversary of Chang Wo-chun's Passing]. Taipei: Council for Cultural Affairs.
  6. ^ Chen, Fang-ming (2011). 台灣新文學史 [A History of Modern Taiwan Literature]. Taipei: Linking Publishing.
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