Keeper of Taiwan's spectral past
Cheng Ching-wen (鄭清文) was a titan of Taiwan literature who wrote about ordinary lives in a rapidly changing Taiwanese society. Many of his works, which were crafted in leisure time during his lifelong career as a banksman, explore the tension that remain in Taiwan as its people struggle to come to terms with the nation's colonial past and the ravages of war.
Acknowledged by award-winning producer-playwright Wu Nien-jen as a gentleman who lived for putting pen to paper, Cheng crafted stories that appear superfluously rich in surface details, yet with little progression or ripples beyond the initial introduction. This dispassionate tone belies the torrent of conflicting emotions held by the characters framed by his meticulous setup.
The English translation of Cheng's seminal collection "Three-Legged Horse (三腳馬)” is his main calling card among western readers, and the first Taiwanese literary work to win the Kiriyama Pacific Rim Book Prize. Cheng was singled out from 115 other candidates for providing "a vivid portrait of Taiwan's past and present.”
A 1999 book review by The New York Times states: "This collection of simple stories, written in simple language yet rich with vivid details, presents a gallery of portraits of disorientation, distortion and frustration” of Taiwanese lives under the gloomy influence of the past.
The Kirkus Review quips that "Chekhov, in fact, would have understood the compassionate sensibility animating these gently harrowing, unpretentious, absorbing tales,” while Publishers Weekly vouches for Cheng's ability to "summon the ghosts of Taiwan's past” with gentleness and profoundness.
About the Book
"Three-Legged Horse” is a 12-story collection written by Cheng and edited by Chi Pang-yuan, another extraordinary author from Taiwan who also wrote the foreword for the English edition. An excerpt in Chinese can be found here (via National Museum of Taiwan Literature), and an excerpt in English can be found here (via Columbia University Press).
- ONE ─ The River Suite
- TWO ─ The Mosquito
- THREE ─ Betel Nut Town
- FOUR ─ A Fisherman's Family
- FIVE ─ The Last of the Gentlemen
- SIX ─ Secrets
- SEVEN ─ God of Thunder's Gonna Getcha
- EIGHT ─ Autumn Night
- NINE ─ Spring Rain
- TEN ─ The Three-Legged Horse
- ELEVEN ─ Hair
- TWELVE ─ The Coconut Palms on Campus
About the Author
Born in the Japanese colonial era, the Japanese-style education and life under Japanese governance shaped Cheng's writing style, which often portrayed human nature and celebrated universal values … (read more)