Memo #92
A noted cultural figure, writer, and public intellectual based in Beijing, Chan Koonchung (陈冠中) is the author of the pathbreaking novel Shengshi-Zhongguo 2013 (盛世 – 中国 2013) or, The Fat Years.
In this first of two interviews, Mr. Chan reflects on the implications of China becoming more wealthy and powerful. In 2008 he became convinced of China’s ineluctable rise and the prospect that it would soon be more advanced than Hong Kong and Taiwan. The novel is alive with characters and situations that speak tellingly and often in dystopic terms about what China’s future might hold.
The first video interview with Mr. Chan Koonchung (the second interview will be published in early July, 2011):
Part 1 – What happens in your book Shengshi-Zhongguo 2013 (The Fat Years?) (0:48 sec)
Part 2 – Purpose of the party official character (0:49 sec)
Part 3 – Why did you write this book now? (1:00 min)
Part 4 – Your experience with China rising (0:54 sec)
Part 5 – 小说的書名就是“盛世－中国2013”。 “盛世”这个词在华语非常有意义的。 您为什么选“盛世”这个書名? (1:07 min)
Related Memos:
- See Chan Koonchung’s Interview on His Role as an Activist Public Intellectual (Memo #95)
- Our collection of Memos on Chinese Literature
- Our other Memos about China