Officialdom Novels: Are They a "Guide to Becoming an Official" or a Critique of Reality?
This report by our staff reporter Pu Liz and intern Wu Peifeng in the Southern Daily focuses on the genre of officialdom novels.
Key points:
In bookstores, titles like "Director", "Beijing Office Chief", "Female Bank Manager", "Credit Director", and "Reception Director" dominate important sections as part of the 'officialdom novel' genre. On television screens, adaptations from officialdom novels such as "Ranking List of Provincial Party Secretary Novels", "Heaven Above", "No Trace in the Snow", and "Supreme Interest" have been golden standards for ensuring high ratings.
The term 'officialdom novel' was officially introduced with Wang Yuewen's long novel "Guohua". In 1998, Wang Yuewen completed "Guohua". With the publication of this novel, 'officialdom novel' quickly became a term that readers remembered well.
Ten years later, writers like Lu Tianming, Wang Yuewen, and Zhou Meisen remain influential in the market and among readers. Back then, Lu Tianming's "Provincial Party Secretary" sold 250,000 copies in just one month; Zhou Meisen's "Supreme Interest" and "Made in China", Wang Yuewen's "Guohua" and "Mei Ci Story", whether adapted into TV series or not, almost every novel caused a best-selling trend.
Ten years later, in this year's first half best-seller list, the shadow of 'officialdom novels' reappears: Wang Xiaofang's "Beijing Office Chief" makes the list. It is reported that this work has sold 150,000 copies so far, and the number of pirated books circulating in the market is uncountable but undoubtedly much larger.
However, whether ten years ago or now, these writers enjoy the convenience in publishing and sales benefits brought by this genre while showing distrust towards this term: Wang Yuewen denies his works are officialdom novels; Lu Tianming calls out, "Anti-corruption should not become drug trafficking"; Wang Xiaofang says, "Officialdom is a derogatory term."
In many readers' minds, after the popularity of officialdom novels, it has spawned a large number of formulaic works. The details of "fists plus pillows" and power struggles in these books satisfy readers' curiosity and even serve as a "manual" for learning "political experience".
Ten years later, is 'officialdom novel' serious literature that clears away the dregs, sensational legend novels, or utilitarian "official guide"? Is it declining or seeing new light? We interviewed renowned literary critic He Shaojun, Xie Xiuzhang who has researched officialdom literature extensively, and the author of "Beijing Office Chief", Wang Xiaofang, among others.
Rise: Was it born to cater to readers' prying psychology?
Because it sharply exposed corruption and struggles in officialdom, the pioneering work of officialdom novels - Wang Yuewen's "Guohua" ultimately led to interference from relevant leadership departments and was banned. However, "Guohua" was not the earliest officialdom novel. As literary critic and former chief editor of "Selected Short Stories" He Shaojun introduced, "Zhang Ping, Lu Tianming's works seen as mainstream literature, Wang Yuewen's earlier "Officialdom Autumn Spring", are all officialdom novels." But "Guohua" sparked significant controversy and impact, and officialdom novels thus gained attention. Riding on the anti-corruption movement of the 1990s, officialdom novels began to flourish.
During this period, officialdom novels were mostly "exposing the dark side" in nature. Literary critic and deputy chief editor of Tongxin Publishing House Xie Xiuzhang believed that officialdom novels are similar to the "black curtain novels" of the Republican era, "displaying evil and officials' corrupt lives, especially since China's politics are like an iron curtain, when someone pokes a hole through it, everyone loves to watch. Therefore, the initial popularity of officialdom novels is related to satisfying this prying psychology."
Both critics further explained that some famous officialdom novel authors had political experiences. After graduating from university, Wang Yuewen worked in the county government office and was later transferred to the Huaihua regional office. Zhang Ping is currently a standing member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Wang Xiaofang experienced the shocking nationwide corruption case "Mu Ma Case" during his political career. These writers' experiences and observations in their political careers revealed in their works naturally attract ordinary readers who feel separated from the official world by an iron curtain.
Regarding this reading expectation, He Shaoshun believed it is understandable, "because the reality depicted in officialdom novels is too closely related to everyone's life. Some people want to understand the inside story, some people see criticism of corruption and punishment of corrupt officials, feeling satisfied."
Spread: Widespread influence but only consumptive literature?
Although officialdom novels reveal certain social realities and achieve astonishing sales figures, in the eyes of critics, they remain a form of consumptive literature with limited impact on democracy and integrity, and little literary achievement. Xie Xiuzhang believed that officialdom novels are mainly still a concept of popular literature, differing greatly from the critical realism literature of Russia and France in the 19th century. And He Shaoshun did not trust the social function of novels, "novels do not have that much power, they are just for entertainment, to be read leisurely, and after finishing, you continue doing what you were doing. Of course, they will have a subtle influence, but in today's society, they will not produce immediate results."
Lu Tianming once loudly appealed: "anti-corruption should not become drug trafficking," the exposure of a large amount of darkness and tactics in officialdom literature, and even some books explicitly noting this as "official way" or "tactics," must not be underestimated in their negative effects.
Wang Yuewen himself does not care about such evaluations. He believes that so-called officialdom writers are merely a result of media and critics' deliberate or unintentional hype. "I once told the media that much of the content in "Dream of the Red Chamber" is about young men and women's emotional stories. According to today's media habits, it would be called 'youth fiction.' This is obviously somewhat laughable. Of course, as a form of public opinion-based promotion, I do not oppose others seeing me as a certain kind of writer. In fact, how readers view writers is something the writer cannot control."
Decline: Become a "guide to becoming an official" for government employees?
After the enthusiastic wave, more criticism followed regarding "officialdom literature." Xie Xiuzhang frankly stated that in recent years, with the development of media, the black exposure nature of officialdom novels is no longer as attractive to readers as it was in the early stages. "Today's officialdom novels have become a kind of 'official manual' written for those already in office and those aspiring to be."
Some reviews say that "Wang Yuewen's latest novel "Great Qing Chancellor" uses a character image to explain the five-character official manual: wait, stabilize, endure, be ruthless, hide." In "Great Qing Chancellor," Chancellor Chen Tingjing walked on thin ice for decades, slowly realizing the secrets of officialdom amidst a king like a tiger and colleagues like wolves. "The author did not deeply reveal the suppression and disregard of human nature in officialdom... If there really is such a genre as officialdom novels, I think it should make more efforts in this area rather than just exposing the darkness of officialdom or providing secrets to becoming an official. This is the wrong path for officialdom novels. Simply viewing officialdom novels as guides to becoming an official is also a decline of officialdom novels."
In fact, among the readers of officialdom novels, many are "already in office or aspire to be." Some officials enthusiastically discuss certain officialdom novels and their authors, and some young people use them as "guidance manuals" for entering society and politics. A blog post claims, "Dream of the Red Chamber is 'a success manual that lets college students save ten years of struggle.'" Another netizen left a message for Wang Yuewen saying that before entering a government agency, he first read his novels.
Regarding these situations, Wang Yuewen frankly admitted in an interview, "I've heard university teachers recommend my novels to students before they enter society. I think we should normally view this matter, it's quite interesting. Students nowadays receive sunshine education from a young age, thinking every day is sunny, and when they leave school and face setbacks, they are unprepared. Therefore, many university teachers want their students to understand the real society, so they recommend my novels."
He said he has no right to evaluate readers' expectations: "writers must respect readers' interests, and writers who look down on others seem quite ridiculous to me." But when it comes to "official manual" and "official centrism," he also said, "I believe there are problems in certain aspects of society. In a society where officialdom receives too much attention, it is not normal."
From He Shaoshun's perspective, this is a natural result of the multifaceted nature of novels, "different people standing at different positions see different things, just as Lu Xun said, from "Dream of the Red Chamber," moralists see licentiousness, conspirators see factional strife, and politicians see class oppression. Moreover, any realistic work inevitably draws various materials from life, each person from their own angle will have different views. China is a country with very serious 'official centrism' ideology, reading officialdom novels as a guide to becoming an official may not be without gains, novels are like this. But if a novel only writes about sensational or political tactics without deeper spiritual connotations, it won't be a good novel."
Path: After becoming formulaic, shift to political novels?
"Always has a corrupt official, this corrupt official has a greedy wife, and inevitably a mistress, and finally the affair is exposed by this mistress, additionally there must be a righteous journalist, even a female journalist involved..." He Shaoshun effortlessly recited the routine of officialdom novels.
In his view, as a consumer-oriented popular literature, officialdom novels face a major problem, which is the creation of formulas. "In the case of Wang Yuewen and others' officialdom literature gaining immense attention and rapidly becoming popular, a batch of second-rate or even third-rate officialdom novels began to follow the trend. Since the late 1990s, officialdom literature has increasingly become formulaic and stereotyped."
"If officialdom novels don't have a new starting point, this type of novel will gradually fade out."
He Shaoshun believed that the way out for officialdom novels lies in breaking the small pattern of "problem novels" that focus solely on specific issues. The most recent work he appreciated was Shao Hong's "Flowers Trembling", which features a character upholding his own purity in officialdom, a purity inherited from the spirit of traditional scholar-officials. He believed such novels contain the personal spirit and temperament of the writer. "Realistic works must have a critical spirit, not directly and narrowly writing about a single issue, but rather seeing if the work possesses humanitarianism and universal ethics. Tolstoy criticized serfdom which no longer exists, but the humanitarianism in his works continues to move us today."
Zhou Meisen's political sensitivity displayed in "Made in China" also impressed him, "I remember "Made in China" came out in 2000, at a time when society generally focused on economic construction, but Lu Tianming realized earlier than most that economic reform could not continue without political reform. And political reform involves the issue of succession, which he wrote about in this novel."
Xie Xiuzhang even directly pointed out, "For officialdom novels to have a future, they must transform into political novels." He appreciated Xiao Renfu's "Intentions" because "he has broken away from the clichés of exposing scandals and teaching official ways, instead focusing on writing about China's unique 'government culture'; starting from daily life details, depicting the alienation of human nature, writing about officialdom at a cultural level." But this is still far from his ideal officialdom novel, "Current officialdom novels mainly cater to the demands of readers and publishers, "Intentions" is written quite peacefully, but for officialdom novels to have a future, I think they must transform into political novels, having the courage to touch upon the hardest issues. I once discussed with Hai Yan, whose ideal was not to write romance novels but political novels. This requires writers to be politically mature and have a good insight into the entire social history, and now there is a lack of such writers. At the same time, it also requires a very relaxed publishing environment, like now anti-corruption topics can still skirt the rules, but if it's about the political system, it probably wouldn't get published."
■Netizens Talk About Officialdom Novels
Thinking of Writing "Student Union Chairman"
"I've read stories about officials at different levels such as 'Provincial Party Secretary', 'County Committee Secretary', 'Township Party Secretary', and involuntarily thought of writing a 'Student Union Chairman', describing the politics within universities to fill the gap in these officialdom novels, because today's universities are no longer simple ivory towers, there are many contests over power and profit inside."
"I think, life is a book, if you're willing to write down your experiences and your writing is fluent, you might become a sudden hit."
—Excerpted from Middle School Chinese Reading Website "Reflections on Famous Officialdom Novels"
Feeling Chilled
"When reading 'Comrade Woman', I was overwhelmed with emotions, thinking a lot... In fact, the author is quite lenient, not fully portraying all the darkness, but for us simple-minded people living in ivory towers, that world is fundamentally not ours, and we couldn't adapt even if we underwent a complete transformation. 'Comrade Woman' leaves a suspense, actually no matter what, tests come one after another, waves rise again and again, never ending! Just made me feel chilled. And for people like us living in small circles, experiencing some alternative flavors of life through novels, maybe we should feel fortunate: fortunately, we are just reading stories, not going through them personally."
—Excerpted from Novel Network Club "Reading Officialdom Novels"
Not Sure Whether It's a Novel or Textbook
"This 'Beijing Office Chief' is far less substantial than the author's previous novel 'Fatal Whirlpool'. It's said that all bureau-level officials in the background city repeatedly read 'Fatal Whirlpool', carefully searching for their images in the book; clearly knowing the prototype of each character, yet still wanting to satisfy their desire to know those mysterious secrets... The contents of the two novels ('Beijing Office Chief' and 'Fatal Whirlpool') are too similar, no need to keep talking about the mayor, aesthetic fatigue happens too, let alone that's the government's business! However, newcomers to officialdom reading more of these works doesn't hurt. For a moment, I wasn't sure if this was a novel or a textbook!"
—Sina Blog Article "Reading 'Beijing Office Chief'"
Officialdom Novels Over the Last Ten Years
◎ "Autumn Spring of Officialdom" Wang Yuewen, 1998
◎ "Guohua" Wang Yuewen, 1999
◎ "Made in China" Zhou Meisen, 2000
◎ "Choice" Zhang Ping, 2000
◎ "Painful Loss" Liu Xinglong, 2001
◎ "F