On the Writing of Christian Images in the Novels of Post-70s Writers—— Take Jerusalem, External History of Mind and Good Woman Song Meiyong for Example (https://doi.org/10.63386/620586)

Ruijuan HAO

School of Chinese Language and Literature,Hubei University of Education,Hubei 430205,China

Email: jinsusu0907@163.com

Abstract: Christian culture and its spiritual value have an important impact on contemporary Chinese writers. From modern writers who advocated the spirit of suspicion and criticism during the May 4th Enlightenment period to those who insist on asking the soul with pen in the 21st century, Chinese writers have created a large number of Christian images. Taking the three full-length novels of three post-70s writers, Xu Zechen, Shi Yifeng, and Ren Xiaowen, as examples, this study examines the Christian connotations contained in these three works: “Jerusalem,” “An External History of the Mind,” and “The Good Song is useless.” By analyzing the shaping and similarities and differences of the Christian images portrayed by post-70s writers, it can be found that the Christian images portrayed by post-70s writers have experienced the sins and hardships of the world, Received help and salvation from God’s love and redemption. Three post-70s writers have portrayed the image of Christians in contemporary society from the perspective of religious beliefs. By analyzing the image of different types of Christians, they demonstrate that post-70s writers not only reflect on spiritual beliefs in the historical development process, but also delve deeper into the relationship between current social reality and ideals, material and spiritual, existence and death from the perspective of Christian faith. From the perspective of literary history, examining the portrayal of Christians in the works of post-70s writers reveals that they pay more attention to the complex changes in the spiritual world of small and medium-sized figures in daily life, and also have a greater awareness of social issues. They write about the value and power of faith on the basis of a keen grasp of the issues of the times. The analysis of Christian images in the novels of post-70s writers not only deeply and meticulously presents the current mental state of ordinary individuals, but also explores the essence and significance of life in the noisy social background, which has unique literary historical value.

Key Words: Post-70s Writers;Christian Image; Xu Zechen,;Shi Yifeng;Ren Xiaowen

Notes on Author：Hao Ruijuan, Ph.D. in Chinese Literature, lecturer at Hubei University of Education. mainly engaged in the research of contemporary Chinese writers and works, Focusing on the research of Lao She and Shanghai writers.

Christianity was introduced to China during the Zhenguan period of the Tang Dynasty. The introduction of the “Alitercoen Religion” in the Yuan Dynasty, the development of Catholicism during the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, and the spread of Christianity by missionaries who came to China before and after the Opium War all demonstrate the long history of interaction and collision between Christianity and Chinese culture. In the modern and contemporary history of China’s development, Christianity has once made significant contributions to the publication of newspapers and magazines, the establishment of modern schools and their management systems, as well as the development of modern hospitals and charitable undertakings. The development of Christianity is also closely related to modern Chinese literature. From modern writers who held high the spirit of doubt and criticism during the May 4th Enlightenment period to contemporary writers who persist in exploring the soul with their pens in the 21st century, Chinese writers have created a large number of Christian characters. As direct disseminators of Christian culture, the portrayal of Christian characters not only reflects the in-depth thinking of modern intellectuals about Western Christian culture but also shows the writers’ multi-faceted exploration of the existence of individual lives and the significance of personal values.

Xu Zechen’s full-length novel Jerusalem takes the culturally sacred place “Jerusalem,” which is rich in religious heritage, as its title. It tells the life journey of the generation born in the 1970s regarding growth and redemption. “Jerusalem” is not only the beautiful melody uttered by Grandma Qin, a Christian, during her prayers but also the source of inner peace and strength for the young generation who are venturing out into the world in a state of confusion. In The Outer History of the Soul, Shi Yifeng focuses on the issue of the Chinese people’s spiritual beliefs over the past half-century on an ordinary housewife. The eldest aunt’s final conversion to Christianity is not only her rechoice of faith after experiencing a tortuous and bumpy life but also expresses the author’s alternative thinking about personal spiritual dilemmas in an anxious social environment. As a writer with Christian beliefs, Ren Xiaowen’s The Useless Song, which seemingly tells the miserable life of an ordinary woman named Song Muyong, actually highlights the radiance of human nature under the care of Christianity through the contrast of the different beliefs of several women. This thesis takes three full-length novels by three writers born in the 1970s as examples to analyze the portrayal of Christian characters by these writers, examine the similarities and differences among the three writers in character depiction and the expression of Christian spirit, and make great efforts to explore the unique charm of the Christian characters created by the writers born in the 1970s and their value in the history of literature.

1. The Unique Portrayal of Characters under Textual Interpretation

The story of Xu Zechen’s Jerusalem unfolds around three spaces: Huajie, his hometown; Beijing, the capital city; and Jerusalem. Huajie, his hometown, is the root of Chu Pingyang’s growth, maintaining an unbreakable emotional bond with his life. Beijing, the capital, is the city where he struggles and strives, documenting the bitterness and joys on his path to pursuing dreams. Jerusalem, on the other hand, is the place he yearns for, the city he most desires to reach. Chu Pingyang’s obsession with Jerusalem, on the surface, stems from his love for the beautiful rhythm that Granny Qin made when kneeling and praying to Jesus, which he peeked at during his childhood, and his desire to further explore the mysterious act of Granny Qin’s conversion to Christianity. The fundamental reason, however, lies in his guilt and self-blame for the death of his childhood friend Tianci. He cannot let go of the sense of guilt weighing on his heart. Granny Qin’s way of believing in Christ and redeeming herself has always influenced Chu Pingyang. From his habit of reading the Bible during his college years to his choice of studying in Jerusalem later, Granny Qin, who possesses a peaceful soul, has always been the guiding light for Chu Pingyang’s spiritual breakthrough.

Granny Qin first came into contact with Christianity because of her trust in Reverend John Sha, the last pastor in the Slanting Church. Reverend Sha once saved her life when she was suffering from malaria. In return, Granny Qin devoutly believed in God. She attended church services, prayed, and read the Bible. Although she had little cultural knowledge, she held the most humble awe for Jesus. Especially during the Cultural Revolution, due to her Christian faith, she was labeled as a traitor collaborating with the enemy and suffered humiliation, torture, and criticism. Even so, she still clung to her inner faith and never yielded. After the end of the Cultural Revolution, Granny Qin had a wooden cross made. The Jesus on this cross was even given a pair of Liberation shoes by the carpenter. “When Granny Qin lowered her head, she couldn’t see the Liberation shoes, and there was no place for these shoes in her heart either. When she recited the Bible, Jesus was always barefoot” [1] Granny Qin knelt on the futon and prayed with her back against the huge cross day in and day out for decades. From being illiterate, she was able to read the remaining copies of the Bible dozens of times with almost no obstacles. Finally, on a stormy night, worried that the rain would leak into the Slanting Church and wet Jesus, she went to get the cross in the middle of the night, accidentally slipped and fell, and passed away. Granny Qin was an outlier in Huajie. She remained true to her love for Jesus and found spiritual shelter and comfort in the Slanting Church. She served her Lord in silence and piety and achieved inner peace and certainty in the noisy world.

Different from Granny Qin’s decades-long piety and firm belief in Christianity in Jerusalem, Wang Chun’e in Shi Yifeng’s The Outer History of the Soul experienced nearly half a century of hesitation and confusion before she finally encountered the Lord Jesus and became a Christian in the final stage of her life. The novel tells the story of Aunt Wang Chun’e’s lifelong pursuit of spiritual belief from the perspective of “me” and through “my” perception and experience. During the Cultural Revolution, driven by the belief that “the revolution is good for everyone,” Aunt Wang took the initiative to expose that her mother had secretly hidden her grandfather’s manuscripts. When the manuscripts were searched and her mother faced interrogation, she realized that the revolution might harm her mother, and she stepped forward and claimed that she was the one who had hidden the manuscripts. In the 1990s, amidst the craze for qigong, Aunt Wang firmly believed in the miraculous power of qigong. She personally took “me” to pay homage to the master and entrusted the goal of “my” weight gain and her own possibility of getting pregnant to the master with special abilities. It was not until the farcical “theory of qigong energy” faded away after deceiving the public that Aunt Wang realized she had been deceived. Later, Aunt Wang joined a pyramid scheme organization. Bombarded by the so-called “success studies,” she firmly believed that gold could be extracted from the “Chongchongbao” and even tried to persuade her mother to invest. When “I” risked my life to rescue her, she still didn’t realize the danger of her situation. After experiencing the misunderstanding of the revolution, being deceived by qigong, and being exploited by the pyramid scheme, Aunt Wang heeded the call of Jesus and followed the blind preacher Liu Youguang on the holy path of believing in Christ. Some scholars have pointed out: “If Shi Yifeng’s The Outer History of the Soul truly reproduces the rather tortuous spiritual belief history of the heroine Aunt Wang, then all her previous beliefs were actually blind beliefs, and only her final conversion to the Lord and her belief in God can be regarded as finding her true spiritual belief.”[2] Aunt Wang spent her entire life searching for spiritual sustenance. Each of her beliefs was sincere. However, such “beliefs” not only failed to bring her happiness but instead caused great harm and losses to her and those around her. Her final conversion to religion, on the one hand, was guided by the thought that “everything will be fine once I believe,” as she hoped to end the miserable and turbulent life she had endured for most of her life. On the other hand, it was also because she realized that she had taken many detours due to her ignorance and that only by atoning for her sins could she be liberated.

Ren Xiaowen’s The Good Woman Song Mayong uses compassionate words to record the bumpy life of the ordinary woman Song Mayong, who tenaciously fought against hardships in a harsh environment throughout her life. The Song Mayong portrayed by the author, even in the face of various misfortunes and blows, never lost the courage to live. Relying on her own labor, she held fast to her inner conscience and did not harm others even in an era where public opinion could easily distort the truth. She resisted evil with love, adhered to the standards of good and evil in her heart, and strived to live a life of value. In the face of her mother who beat her, her mother-in-law who insulted her, the strangers who twice occupied her house, and her daughter-in-law who despised her, she responded with understanding and forgiveness. The creation of such a character is related to the author’s own beliefs. At the beginning of the novel, the author quotes from the Gospel of Matthew: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest”[3] This sentence means that all those who are guilty can find rest and be reborn in the Lord Jesus. At the end of the novel, Song Mayong, who had been tired throughout her life, felt both pain and a sense of relief at the last moment of her death. When the memories of her life flashed before her eyes, it was as if all the time of her life was collected and suddenly returned to her without missing a single second. “She felt a certain emotion that made her feel warm and safe, without any more regrets. A human-shaped strong light enveloped her. Song Mayong, at the age of seventy-four, returned to the place of her origin.” This passage echoes the beginning of the novel. The physical fatigue and the spiritual pain she had endured seemed to be blessed at the last moment of her life, achieving a certain kind of transcendence and returning to a place of rest. Thus, we can also understand the author’s basic attitude towards suffering lives. It is precisely because of this view of life that there is the Song Mayong in her works who remains kind and sincere even in the face of difficult and desperate situations. However, in the novel, the character who best reflects the author’s ideal of personality is “Mrs. Shan” —— Ni Luder. She embodies the author’s Christian feelings. Mrs. She is a devout Christian who was baptized at birth and upholds the Christian virtues of love, kindness, mercy, and patience. She understood her eccentric husband to the greatest extent possible, took in Song Mayong’s family of six, dedicated herself during the socialist transformation, gave condolence gifts to poor students, and calmly faced the tempestuous blows during several home raids in the Cultural Revolution. Even during the Cultural Revolution, in the face of humiliation, torture, and beatings, she did not collapse but still adhered to her most loyal inner faith. Adhering to the Christian faith is not only a way for Mrs. Shan to redeem herself in the face of pain but also a way for her to maintain inner peace in the midst of suffering.

It can be seen that Granny Qin in Jerusalem, Wang Chun’e in The Outer History of the Soul, and Ni Luder in The Good Woman Song Mayong all devoutly believe in God. They all possess spiritual qualities such as kindness, tolerance, and patience. They are the spiritually rich and are Christian characters with rich humanity.

1. The Expression of Spiritual Beliefs with Both Similarities and Differences

In Christian culture, Christ was crucified in order to save the sinful humanity. He willingly endured hardships and sacrifices so that the guilty could be redeemed. In these three works, the authors all depict that after experiencing the sins and hardships of the human world, Christians receive help and salvation through the love and redemption of God. Granny Qin in Jerusalem used to be a prostitute. During the Cultural Revolution, when she was paraded through the streets and criticized, she remembered the teachings of Reverend Sha: “It’s not scary to have been a prostitute, nor is it scary to be scolded by others. What’s truly scary is that one doesn’t dare to face it squarely and can’t let it go.” The story of Jesus forgiving prostitutes gave her the courage to face herself calmly and to live on firmly. Her persistent prayers and recitations of scriptures not only redeemed her own sins but also had a significant impact on those around her. Some critics have said, “The reason why Qin Huan believes in Christianity is that she wants to heal and transcend the spiritual trauma brought about by the Cultural Revolution through religious belief. The sufferings of history have pushed Qin Huan towards the religious world, where she seeks faith and spiritual sustenance to eliminate the absurdity of history and make her life complete and meaningful again.”[4] Indeed, Granny Qin’s redemption is a direct confrontation with history, while the sense of guilt of Chu Pingyang and others stems from their daily childhood experiences. Everyone who directly or indirectly participated in Tianci’s death tried their best to atone for their sins in various ways. Chu Pingyang’s leaving home, Qin Fuxiao’s return, the preparation of the “Brothers • Huajie Slanting Church Repair Fund”, and the restoration of the Slanting Church are all related to Granny Qin’s belief in Christ. It can be said that Granny Qin is not only the one who is saved but also a savior. Her way of facing hardships and her act of sticking to her faith are of great significance to the younger generation like Chu Pingyang who are eager to atone for their sins. Influenced by her, Chu Pingyang uncovered the secrets hidden in his heart and dared to truly face himself. When Qin Fuxiao held the Bible in his hands, he also discovered a secret contract beyond the blood relationship between himself and his grandmother. Granny Qin taught Qin Fuxiao to reconcile with himself, let go of the deep-seated grudges, hatreds, and prejudices in his heart, and cherish the present life.

In the face of the inner confusion and struggle of individuals, Shi Yifeng also portrays the redemptive spirit of Christians in The Outer History of the Soul and depicts the image of Christians with a dual identity. In Aunt Wang Chun’e’s life, from blindly believing in the revolution, to chasing after qigong masters, and then being brainwashed by a pyramid scheme organization, she believed easily along the way but was quickly abandoned by the objects she believed in. During the revolution, feeling guilty for informing on others, she voluntarily accompanied her mother to be sent to the countryside, hoping to atone for her sins by torturing herself. After the pyramid scheme organization was shut down, she realized that her sins were unforgivable and refused “me” and my mother to take her home. When she was in a state of hesitation and helplessness, the Christian missionary Liu Youguang illuminated her heart. She converted to Christianity and found redemption from God, achieving spiritual freedom. Aunt Wang, by believing in God, directly confronted her own sins and became the one who was saved. Similarly, she also redeemed “me” with her selflessness, kindness, and love. “Love your neighbor as yourself” is one of the main commandments of Christianity. Aunt Wang embodies the spirit of universal love in Christianity. When “I” was abandoned by my mother, she took good care of “me”. And when faced with the only opportunity, she gave the possibility of a happy life to “me”. Because of the warmth and dependence she gave me, “I” didn’t add insult to injury to the swindler Li Wuchi but chose to forgive and show mercy. Most importantly, in the process of searching for and helping Aunt Wang, the originally incompatible relationship between mother and son was reconciled. Aunt Wang is the mediator between “me” and my mother. It is not so much that “I” rescued Aunt Wang from the pyramid scheme organization and helped her return to a normal life, but rather that Aunt Wang cured the lonely and anxious “me” with her sincerity and kindness and helped “me” mend a broken relationship.

Compared with the previous two works, the theme of Christian redemption is more obvious in The Good Woman Song Mayong. When the simple and kind Song Mayong’s house was occupied by two groups of strangers who took over as the masters, she chose to endure and compromise and bear the hardships of life alone. When she learned that the family of Qiao Niangzi, who had treated her badly, died because of the informant of their adopted son, she felt deeply guilty and sought help from the Christian Mrs. She. Mrs. She said that as long as one clearly confronts one’s sins and pours out one’s heart to God without concealment, God will use the Lord Jesus to help humanity eliminate all sins and injustices. Mrs. She’s kindness gave great spiritual comfort to Song Mayong, who wanted to atone for her sins. During the Cultural Revolution, Mrs. She did not join the fanatical worship of the leader. Instead, she found a pastor to baptize her husband. This act made her a key target for criticism. “They used a plastic eye drop bottle to suck swill and pour it into her ears. They hung a spittoon filled with liquid on her chest and let the onlookers throw stones into it.” In the face of such humiliation and torture, she still firmly believed that suffering could damage one’s physical body but could not deprive one of the relationship with the Lord in one’s heart. The world seen with the eyes and the pain felt by the body are temporary, while the growth of life and the glory that will be obtained in the kingdom of God in the future are eternal. In an environment full of tension where one might be “revolutionized” at any time, Mrs. She, regardless of the danger, copied a passage from the Bible for Song Mayong: “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.”[5] This passage was later traced over and over again by Song Mayong and became an effective way for her to get rid of the inner unease in her lonely old age. When she remembered the difficult years of her youth, her adopted son Husheng who was forced to leave home, and her daughter who died in a foreign land, she could only rely on the religious proverbs given to her by Mrs. She to get rid of the lonely and bitter feelings in her heart and obtain spiritual comfort.

In these three works, Granny Qin, who was worried about the cross getting wet in the rainy night, Wang Chun’e, who was summoned by the voice of God, and Mrs. She, who secretly recited the Bible with the cover of Mao Zedong’s Poems wrapped around it, all treated others and the world with calmness, friendliness, and sincerity. They obtained spiritual support and soul redemption through their belief in God. Although the three post-70s generation writers have all portrayed the images of contemporary Christians from the perspective of religious belief, they have different emphases in the specific portrayal of these images. Jerusalem aims more to showcase the spirit and temperament of the post-70s generation. It is praised as a “mini-epic of the post-70s generation group”. The author intends to explore the issues of the breadth and depth of individual spirit. Xu Zechen deliberately created the religious figure of Granny Qin. Her worship of “Jesus wearing Liberation shoes” and the way she passed away while holding the cross are somewhat metaphorical. Just as Jesus carried the cross and suffered in Jerusalem before his execution, Granny Qin also carried the cross in the latter half of her life to redeem herself. As the critic pointed out: “Through the work Jerusalem and this name, Xu Zechen conveys not the redemption in the religious sense but the self-spiritual and self-belief redemption of a generation or even several generations. He tells the current Chinese people and the people of the world that redemption comes from within, exists in memories, and stems from inner peace and repentance.”[6] This thought of redemption based on the stance of spirit and belief has a unique significance in the novel. Granny Qin, like Professor Samuel and Tutor Gu Nianzhang, experienced the cruel years of war and revolution. She used her own unique way to seek spiritual sustenance and embarked on a journey of fulfilling vows and expressing gratitude. Her calmness and open-mindedness enabled the intellectual Yi Peiqing, who was obsessed with his wife’s past as a prostitute, to learn to accept and let go. At the same time, she taught Chu Pingyang and others during their growth to have the courage to face their past sins and “inner demons”. There is a kind of courage in her to rediscover and understand herself. By comparing the image of Granny Qin, a Christian, with people of different generations and identities, the author shows the different life experiences and inner spirits of various individuals and highlights the function of Christianity in redeeming the soul amidst complex historical changes and human entanglements.

If the image of Granny Qin is that Xu Zechen highlights the function of Christianity in redeeming the soul from the level of spiritual ideals, then Shi Yifeng explores the issue of people’s belief anxiety in the context of fanatical economic pursuit and a fickle era from the perspective of reflection. Aunt Wang Chun’e’s life was full of hardships. When she was young, she accompanied her mother to suffer in the countryside because she had hurt her mother. In her middle age, she divorced her husband due to her inability to have children. In her later years, she was deceived into joining a pyramid scheme organization involved in illegal fundraising and was imprisoned. After she was released from prison, her hometown house was demolished due to mining, and she had no home to return to. On the one hand, the author portrays Aunt Wang Chun’e’s tragic life situation and shows deep admiration and respect for her desire to enrich her soul in her bumpy life. On the other hand, the author also reflects the social problems in the process of social development through Aunt Wang Chun’e’s difficult life situation. In an era of rapid economic development, the crisis and lack of belief have become a survival dilemma for modern people. Over the past few decades, from the worship of revolutionary leaders, the national fanatical superstition of qigong, to the abnormal development of excessively pursuing economic benefits while ignoring moral conscience, and then to the forced demolitions and the cramped situation of house churches, all these reveal the hidden dangers and sorrows behind the prosperity and hustle and bustle of Chinese society. It can be said that The Outer History of the Soul is based on the exploration of people’s spiritual beliefs. It not only examines the current social problems with a sharp eye but also delves into the depths of the souls of ordinary people, showing the rich connotations of human nature.

In The Good Woman Song Mayong, Ren Xiaowen created two images of good people. One is Mrs. She, an intellectual full of humanistic brilliance, and the other is Song Mayong, who shines with the light of kindness at the bottom of society. As an image of a Christian guide, Mrs. She extended a helping hand to Song Mayong who was in sin and suffering, helping her get out of unease and fear. Mrs. She is a typical image of a Christian and an ideal character set by the author, representing an ideal self. She has transcended secular life and achieved spiritual freedom, while Song Mayong represents the part of the real self. In Song Mayong’s bumpy life, from burning incense and worshiping Buddha, to the worship of individual leaders, and then to the admiration of Jesus Christ, her life is full of the hardships and contradictions of human spiritual existence. The two of them together constitute the two sides of a person in the ideal and realistic aspects. As a writer who believes in Christianity, Ren Xiaowen frankly stated that what she wanted to solve in this work was the issues of belief and death. “The way a person believes determines the way they live. The attitude towards death determines the attitude towards life. Some people live muddleheadedly and die in confusion. Some people don’t believe in the judgment after death, so they decide to infinitely demand from the world during their lifetime. And those who believe that ‘death is like a lamp going out’ will inevitably fall into the nihilism of ‘life is meaningless’… If one cannot solve the despair of death, it is difficult to solve the meaning of life.”[7]  In Song Mayong’s life, her parents and elder brother all “lived muddleheadedly and died in confusion”, and the tenants who drove Song Mayong out of the house twice had no moral bottom line. They “didn’t believe in the judgment after death” and thus “demanded infinitely from the world”. Only Mrs. She, who adhered to her faith, had already understood the meaning of life and the destination after death. Therefore, she could calmly face hardships and death. The characters in the novel are internally consistent with Ren Xiaowen’s own understanding of faith. In the discussion about the creation of the novel, Ren Xiaowen once said: “In my opinion, without faith, life has no purpose. One comes by chance, lives randomly, and then dies in vain and fades into nothingness. Without faith, writing a novel also has no purpose.”[8] Therefore, compared with the previous two works, the uniqueness of The Good Woman Song Mayong lies in that the author portrays the image of Christians as a Christian herself. In her works, converting to and believing in Christ can save one from the emptiness of life and the despair of death, and faith can help people find the true meaning of life.

Through the analysis of the images of different types of Christians in these three novels, the post-70s generation writers, who are the backbone of writing, show their understanding and perception of contemporary society. They not only continue the thinking of their predecessors on the issue of spiritual beliefs in the process of historical development but also delve deeper into exploring the relationships between social reality and ideals, material and spirit, existence and death in the current society from the perspective of Christian faith.

III. Investigation and Examination from the Perspective of Literary History

In the development process of modern Chinese literature, writers have created many Christian characters with great artistic charm. During the May 4th period, enlighteners mostly started from the perspectives of criticizing feudal traditional culture, improving national character, and saving the nation and making it strong. With a strong humanistic spirit, they highlighted the great personality power of Jesus. Whether it was Chen Duxiu’s proposal to use the spiritual personality of Jesus to save the weak nation, or Lu Xun’s affirmation of the spirit of Christ’s salvation from the standpoint of “cultural borrowing”; whether it was Bing Xin’s absorption of the spirit of universal love in Christian culture to form an important spiritual resource of her “philosophy of love”, or the Christian ideas of “forgiveness through love” and “sacrifice through love” of the characters created by Xu Dishan, they all, to varying degrees, emphasized the spiritual power of universal love, dedication, and sacrifice in Christ. The intellectuals during the May 4th period thought about the destiny of the country and the situation of the oppressed compatriots with a strong sense of worry. They saw, with a critical eye, the great personality of Jesus in Christianity who saved the world and redeemed the deeply sinful people through self-sacrifice. They hoped to use the ideas in Christian culture to save China, which was in crisis. Some critics have said, “It was precisely based on the introspective criticism of Chinese traditional culture and national character that the May 4th writers accepted and publicized the spirit of Christ, reflecting a persistent anti-feudal spirit. This is the main value of the influence of the spirit of Christ on the novel creation during the May 4th period.”[9] Thus, it can be seen that to some extent, Christianity was an important ideological weapon for the enlightenment pioneers to reform society. China’s modernization process was accompanied by the aggression and colonization of Western countries. During this process, Christianity once became an important means for them to infiltrate and erode China. Influenced by the upsurge of the “anti-imperialist” movement in the 1920s, several large-scale “anti-Christian movements” broke out in Chinese society. There were numerous phenomena of besieging and attacking Christian churches, missionary schools, and clergy missionaries. In the literary field, modern writers also turned to exposing the dark and hypocritical side of the church. In novels, a large number of images of hypocritical Christians who were selfish, hypocritical, and oppressed the common people in the name of missionary work emerged. For example, Zhang Ziping depicted the chaotic desires of Christians in The Children of God, and Lao She criticized the domineering and bullying behavior of female Christians towards the weak in his short story Liu Tun’s. In the 1930s and 1940s, due to frequent national wars and class contradictions, the cruel experiences of war and disappointment with the real politics made writers begin to re-understand Western Christian culture. As a result, more authentic and credible Christian characters with profound humanity appeared in their works. For example, in Ba Jin’s novel Fire, the hesitant, struggling, and persevering state of the Christian Tian Huishi in his Christian belief was depicted. Lu Ling’s novel The Sons of the Rich Man portrayed the different pursuits of Christian belief and the choices of life paths of the siblings Jiang Xiuju and Jiang Chunzu at the critical moment of the nation’s peril.

During the “seventeen years of literature” and the Cultural Revolution period after the founding of New China, due to the influence of political factors and ideology, Christianity was constantly negated and attacked. It was not until the end of the Cultural Revolution and the beginning of the ideological emancipation movement that Christianity once again participated in the ideological development process of a generation as a form of spiritual belief. At the beginning of the new era, when writers depicted Christian characters, they were still influenced by political ideology. For example, Hu Mary, a Christian character created by Wang Meng in Long Live Youth, was regarded as a representative of backward and reactionary ideas. Li Ping depicted the wandering and entangled mental journey of the young intellectual Nan Shan between the belief in Marxism and the belief in Christ in When the Sunset Disappears. Among the writers in the new era, Bei Cun and Shi Tiesheng were the ones most deeply influenced by Christian culture. Bei Cun is one of the most important Christian writers in contemporary times. He combined his mental journey with his creative path and wrote many unique “divine novels”, such as The Love of Ma Zhuo, Glass, The River of Baptism, Anger, etc. He entrusted the spiritual and psychological problems faced by Chinese people at the turn of the century to Christianity, and was influenced by Christian culture in many aspects such as character creation, structural arrangement, and theme in his novels. In his novels, due to the powerful redemptive function of Christianity, only a complete conversion can save the fallen soul, reshape the spiritual outlook, obtain the love of God, and move towards the God in one’s heart. Bei Cun created works as a Christian, revealing to a certain extent the ideological and spiritual dilemmas and contradictions of the characters, and having an alternative perception and understanding of human existence. More importantly, Bei Cun’s value goes beyond the limited individual existence and worldly care, and has rich cultural enlightenment significance. In Shi Tiesheng’s works, Christianity mainly played the role of a spiritual pillar. In his novels, the protagonists could always obtain comfort from religion when they experienced trauma, hardships, and sufferings. The endings and fates of the characters were often explained as the arrangement of God. In the face of ruthless fate and boundless suffering, the profound and extensive Christian culture gives people deep love and care, and the characters grow under the love and comfort of God. It can be seen that from Reverend Zhan’s struggle for spiritual belief in Reportage about Reverend Zhan to the “Tenth Uncle’s” firm belief in the myth created by his own heart in Original Sin, from the disabled man’s understanding of the will of God in The Legend on the Hilltop to the profound understanding of suffering, desire, and belief in Notes on the Imaginary, Shi Tiesheng always thought about the significance of religion to painful experiences and unfortunate fates, and a strong spirit of ultimate concern was revealed in his novels. From the interpretation of concepts to the persistence of belief, Bei Cun wrote in his personal belief and literary creation that only Jesus Christ is the fundamental way to save original sin, while Shi Tiesheng thought more about the relationship between life and death, the process and result of life, and the relationship between the individual and humanity from the perspective of his own life situation.

Besides Bei Cun and Shi Tiesheng, other writers in the new era also depicted Christian characters differently in their novel creations. For example, Pastor Maloya in Big Breasts & Wide Hips, the missionary Pu Luxiu in The Evil of Flowers, the couple Shan Muren in Ben Hua, Grandma Mei, a Christian believer in The Gate of the Holy Heaven, and Wu Moxi in One Sentence is Worth Ten Thousand Sentences. In the novel Big Breasts & Wide Hips, Mo Yan created the image of Pastor Maloya, a missionary who came alone to China from distant Sweden. He spread the gospel of God to the suffering people in Gaomi Township, prayed for the people in the dark with a compassionate heart, and gave them spiritual comfort. Although Pastor Maloya was a Western Christian, he could also speak the Gaomi dialect and had the ordinary people’s emotions and desires. In the novel, the mother with tenacious vitality had a relationship with Pastor Maloya and gave birth to a pair of children for him: Shangguan Yunu and Shangguan Jintong. This plot became the logical starting point of the whole novel. In Big Breasts & Wide Hips, Mo Yan took the rich and real image of the missionary as the breakthrough point, connected the turbulent and disaster-prone history of China in the past hundred years, and wrote about the life and death, rise and fall, joys and sorrows of the people in Gaomi Township who struggled bitterly during regime changes, the Anti-Japanese War, natural disasters, famines, and political movements. Ye Zhaoyan’s novel The Evil of Flowers took the struggle against foreign religions as the main line and told the changing history of Meicheng from the Opium War to the eve of the Anti-Japanese War. During the process of the people in Meicheng, represented by Hu Dashao, opposing foreign religions, many innocent missionaries were persecuted. For example, the missionary Vincent and his fiancée Woanna, who were forced to commit suicide, were honest gospel spreaders but suffered inhumane humiliation and torture. In the novel, the author also created the image of Pu Luxiu, a kind and holy missionary. He dedicated his whole life to eliminating the hatred of the people in Meicheng. When there was a flood in Meicheng, he provided relief to the poor, opened the granary to distribute porridge, established an orphanage, and led the people in Meicheng to quit opium. Pu Luxiu practiced the spirit of Christ’s dedication with his actual actions and even paid the price of his life for it. Starting from a unique perspective, Ye Zhaoyan combined the resistance of the people in Meicheng with the tragic fate of Western missionaries, outlining a historical era that makes people sigh. Ben Hua took the time axis from the end of the Qing Dynasty to the end of the Anti-Japanese War and constructed the whole novel with the life experiences of two generations of two large families, the Xibei family and the Xiang family, writing about the historical ups and downs of Benhua Village in nearly half a century. While narrating the development history of the family, it also showed the human feelings and human nature in daily life. Tie Ning depicted an alternative female image in the novel — Xibei Meige. Influenced by the couple Shan Muren, Western missionaries, she received the baptism of Christianity and regarded God as her only belief. During the process of the couple Shan Muren preaching in China, they also taught Western culture, opening a new way for the young people in the traditionally closed Benhua Village to view the world. Xibei Meige accepted Christian culture during this learning process. Although she was physically weak, she obtained a firm belief by reading the Bible. She completed her life pursuit in the way of believing in Christ and found a new realm of life. Thus, it can be seen that writers in the new era also often involved Christian culture in their novels and created Christian characters with different personalities. However, these characters were only a starting point or a thinking point in the grand historical narrative of the writers. Writers were more concerned about the national and family histories during the historical ups and downs. In their creations, as an important factor of Western culture, Christian culture became a heterogeneous other image participating in the narration and imagination of Chinese cultural history. In The Gate of the Holy Heaven, Christianity was a way for the weak and sick girl to express spiritual freedom. In One Sentence is Worth Ten Thousand Sentences, the constantly changing name of Wu Moxi was a symbol of emotional loss and inner loneliness. In Ben Hua, Christian culture was an alternative way for the villagers with scarce resources to approach the world. The writers focused on depicting the difficult and bumpy living situations of a generation of Chinese people in the historical development process, depicting the blending and collision of different ideological cultures and their complex influences on individuals in the social development process of continuous ups and downs of wars and revolutions. In the “epic” art world, the appearance of Christian culture and Christian characters was just a small part of daily life in historical changes. “Although they often cited the concepts of Christian culture in their creations to express certain thoughts of cultural criticism, generally speaking, this kind of citation is usually only a concern on the external level.”[10] Most of the Christian characters in these works were Western missionaries. The narrative function they undertook was to provide a new way for the ignorant Chinese people to access the outside world. Therefore, there was often a young character who was influenced and answered the call of the divine will after the missionary. The setting of this model had the meaning of cultural symbol and served the construction of the national fable in the complete historical narrative.

Looking at the development of modern and contemporary Chinese literature, in the tradition of depicting Christian characters, there were images of selfish and fierce Christians who indirectly served as tools for the imperialist colonization of China. Writers expressed their resistance to Western cultural aggression by satirizing these hypocritical Christian characters. But more often, there were positive portrayals of Christian characters represented by missionaries. Especially after the reform and opening up, Christian culture, as one of many ideological resources, was combined with the writing needs of writers. Contemporary writers expressed their affirmation and recognition of the Christian spirit from a cultural perspective. During this process, there also emerged writers such as Bei Cun, Shi Tiesheng, and Hai Zi who truly expressed the Christian spirit from the perspective of soul belief. However, the depiction of Christian characters by post-70s generation writers in the new century is not a simple criticism or praise. They more subtly present the vibrations and stirrings caused by Christian belief in the depths of people’s souls and spirits. In a society lacking belief nowadays, their intention is not to directly promote certain religious doctrines, nor to simply make judgments and conclusions about individuals’ lives from the standpoint of belief. Instead, they express a possibility, the possibility of belief reconstruction, the possibility of spiritual belonging, and the possibility of constructing literary value. In a social system where traditional value ethics are increasingly shaking, material consumerism prevails, and desire and pleasure become the only pursuits, people are constantly materialized, the relationship between people becomes alienated, people lose their sense of dignity, and their self-awareness becomes indifferent. How to define people, how to understand human existence, and how to think about the relationships between people, between humans and nature, and between humans and social history have become serious issues that have to be considered. Based on this, post-70s generation writers respond to the complicated and flawed society through writing, rethink the issues of people, and explore the meaning of existence and the value of existence.

When observing the creation of Christian images by post-70s generation writers from the perspective of literary history, there are two more prominent characteristics. Firstly, they pay more attention to the soul issues of the little people in daily life. Compared with the grand historical narrative and the characters carrying the historical subject, they are more concerned about the insignificant characters in life. They are good at transforming their familiarity with a certain social group into concern for their spiritual state and actual situation, and delving into the hearts of ordinary individuals to describe and present their mental journeys. “Facing the rapid economic development, conservative politics, and culture, post-70s generation writers start from themselves, write about the personal world and daily life, pay attention to the spiritual trends, survival dignity of individuals, and the collisions and conflicts with the outside world, showing a more obvious tendency of aestheticizing daily life.”[11] Showing the mental journeys of the little people in daily writing and depicting the difficulties of the ordinary individuals in pursuing their beliefs and the hardships of their spiritual dilemmas are important contents of their novel creations. They withdraw from the “history” and focus on the writing of “people”. Starting from the daily beliefs in each individual’s heart, they contemplate the meaning of life and the value of existence. For example, Ren Xiaowen frankly stated that the aspiration of The Good Woman Song Mayong was “to rediscover how individuals respond to suffering, their attitudes towards death, and the secrets hidden in the depths of their souls.”[12] Secondly, they have a stronger sense of social problems. Contemporary people cannot find a spiritual corner to rely on and ultimate values. The extreme pursuit of material things and power makes people impetuous and their hearts desolate, and the spiritual poverty of people has become a new dilemma. Post-70s generation writers examine social contradictions with keen social insight, face the survival crisis of individuals directly in the real world full of strange phenomena, and express their concern and reflection on social problems through these tenacious, persistent, and determined Christian characters. As the critic commented on Shi Yifeng, “His creative transformation also allows us to see a young writer’s cold observation and profound thinking about the complicated and chaotic phenomena of the current society. Especially in this boisterous and flashy era when people talk about ‘stocks’ and ‘gold’, this kind of problem novel with a profound understanding of the real society is even more precious.”[13] It can be seen that post-70s generation writers are thinking about a new problem in the current society: when Chinese problems meet with beliefs, how to stick to beliefs and return to the true inner self in the noisy and restless reality.

In conclusion, there is a relationship of mutual connection and integration between literature and religion, and paying attention to Christian culture is also a reflection on human beings themselves. Whether it is Xu Zechen, who is acclaimed for his “Beijing Drifters Series”, Ren Xiaowen, a rising star of the Shanghai-style literature, or Shi Yifeng, who has inherited Wang Shuo’s writing style, post-70s generation writers have all depicted the sincere character and firm will of true Christian believers. They have all made great efforts to portray the internal contradictions and struggles within the lives of ordinary individuals, creating Christian characters with profound spiritual depth. Through the form of literature, they strive to explore the meaning and ultimate value of life’s existence. This conscious awareness and proactive action not only reflect the social responsibility of the writers but also reveal a strong concern for human nature, enriching the cultural spirit of Chinese literature to a certain extent.

References:

CHEN Qijia: The Influence of Christian culture in Contemporary Chinese Literature, Jiangsu Social Sciences, 250, No. 3(2010): 162-168.

CONG Xinqiang: Christian culture and Contemporary Chinese Literature, Jinan: Shandong Literature and Art Publishing House, 2009.

JI Fan: “Contemporary Christian Literature in China and Cultural Construction in the New Century”, Beijing: Life, Reading, and New Knowledge Triple Bookstore, 2016.

LIU Yingxin: “A History of the Growing Mind in the 1970s: A Review of Xu Zechen’s” Jerusalem “,” The Contention of Literature and Art “, 266Volume 266, Issue 9, 2016, page. 171-174.

QI Meng: “External History of the Mind: The Sorrow of the Mind in the Process of Civilization”, “Novel Review”, 199,No.1(2018)：183-187.

REN Xiaowen: “No Good Song”, Beijing: October Literature and Art Publishing House, 2017.

REN Xiaowen, Huang Qian: “Real Literary Language is Difficult”, Southern Metropolis Daily, October 30, 2017.

SHI Yifeng, “External History of the Mind”, Beijing: October Literature and Art Publishing House, 2018.

WANG Chunlin: “Focusing not only on the national economy and people’s livelihood, but also on spiritual beliefs – A review of Shi Yifeng’s novel”, Journal of Guangxi Normal University (Philosophy and Society Edition), 39, No.2(2018): 12-17.

XU Zechen: “Jerusalem”, Beijing: October Literature and Art Publishing House, 2014.

YANG Dandan: “The Empirical Expression and Method of the” History of the Mind “- From” Jerusalem “to the Writing Problem of the” 70s “,” The Contention of Literature and Art “, 152,No.7(2015):157-162.

YANG Jianlong: “The Voice of the Wilderness – Modern Chinese Writers and Christian Culture”, Shanghai: Shanghai Education Press, 1998.

ZHANG Lijun, Guan Jianhua: “Breakage and Continuation: Aesthetic Changes in the Creation of Novels by Post-70s Writers”, “Creation and Review”, 249, No.22(2016):22-30.

ZHANG Jin: “In these 21 stories, there is the long life of ordinary Shanghai people: an interview with Ren Xiaowen”, “New Beijing News”, August 2, 2019.

[1] Xu Zechen: “Jerusalem”, Beijing: October Literature and Art Publishing House, 2014, 217.

[2] Wang Chunlin: “Not only Focusing on the National Economy and People’s Livelihood, but also on Spiritual Belief: A Review of Shi Yifeng’s Novels on the External History of the Mind”, Journal of Guangxi Normal University (Philosophy and Society Edition), 2018（02）:17.

[3] Ren Xiaowen: “No Good Song”, Beijing, October Literature and Art Publishing House, 2017,1.

[4] Yang Dandan: “The Empirical Expression and Method of the” History of the Mind “- From” Jerusalem “to the Writing Problem of the” 70s “,” The Contention of Literature and Art “, 2015, Issue 7, 161.

[5] Ren Xiaowen: “The Good Song is useless”, Beijing, October Literature and Art Publishing House, 2017, 392-393.

[6] Liu Yingxin: “A History of the Growing Mind in the 1970s: A Review of Xu Zechen’s” Jerusalem “,” The Contention of Literature and Art “, Issue 9, 2016, 174.

[7] Ren Xiaowen: “The Good Song is useless.” Beijing: October Literature and Art Publishing House, 2017,518.

[8] Ren Xiaowen, Huang Qian: “Real Literary Language is Difficult”, Southern Metropolis Daily, October 30, 2017.

[9] Yang Jianlong: “The Voice of the Wilderness: Modern Chinese Writers and Christian Culture”, Shanghai: Shanghai Education Press, 1998,266.

[10] Chen Qijia: The Influence of Christian culture in Contemporary Chinese Literature, Jiangsu Social Sciences, 2010 (03): 164.

[11] Zhang Lijun,Guan Jianhua: “Breakage and Continuation – Aesthetic Evolution of Novels by Post-70s Writers”, “Creation and Review”, 2016 (22): 28.

[12] Zhang Jin: “In these 21 stories, there is the long life of ordinary Shanghai people: an interview with Ren Xiaowen”, “New Beijing News”, August 2, 2019.

[13] Qi Meng: “External History of the Mind: The Sorrow of the Mind in the Process of Civilization”, Novel Review, 2018 (01): 184.