LEO LEE
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survival in different natural environments. Because of this theme,
Zhang was charged with advocating the "erroneous" social Darwinist
view of "survival of the fittest ." But the real thrust of this rather
sprawling narrative is human nature - its cynical manifestation in
the psychological makeup of a ruthless social climber.
Even Marx becomes a protagonist, in a recent play written by
Sha Yexin, the young writer whose previous work,
"If
I Were Real"
(a satirical and poignant depiction of a youngster pretending to be
the son of a high-ranking general), created a stir for its exposure of
snobbery and special privileges. Sha's new play, titled "The Intimate
Life of Marx," is clearly designed as a tribute to Marx as a human
being. As the "author" interviews him in the play's prologue, Marx
professes to like cigars and jokingly denies that he is an ideological
"Marxist" because he strongly objects to idolization. Reportedly, Sha
had conscientiously read several biographies of Marx before he
wrote the play. Still, he was criticized for "opposing Marx the man to
Marx the revolutionist," inflating the former and belittling the latter .
The charge, in sum, is humanism.
The official reactions to these works stem from a distrust of new
interpretations or intellectual alternatives. Although the Party has
not spoken out in every controversy, its "paternalistic" role is evi–
dent, especially in its condescending attitude towards the younger
writers: since they are likely to go astray, they should be shown the
right path . Given the authority of the Party, it often is obeyed. De–
spite the official statement that open debate and persuasion (instead
of imposing ideological "hats" or "wielding sticks" for attack) should
be encouraged, at times when some members of the Party leadership
thought the youngsters had gone too far, their corrective orders
carried all the coercive force and psychological pressure of a formal
political campaign . The pronouncements by Hu Qiaomu and Deng
Liqun against "spiritual pollution" exemplify such an attitude. They
can be overruled only by other - equally senior and paternalistic–
Party leaders. They may sometimes disagree with the means adopted,
but not the ultimate end of reining in the strayed intellectuals, and
bringing them back into the ideological fold of socialism as defined
by the Party.
A vivid illustration of this paternalism is the scandal involving
three nonfictional accounts - self-exposures - by a young woman,
Yu
Luojin . The first two pieces, entitled "A Winter's Fairy-tale" and
"A
Spring's Fairy-tale", amount to a confession of her unhappy mar–
ried lives, first with a peasant and then a worker. "A Spring's Fairy-
