This conversation is with a former international student from Wuhan University who studied comparative literature and now works at a publishing house in Hong Kong. Since she prefers not to disclose her name, she will be referred to as “A” in this article. During our conversation, we discussed a Chinese author, Jia Pingwa. His notable masterpiece, Ruined city, was written in 1993 and played a crucial role in establishing his position in the Chinese literary scene. However, our primary focus was on his latest work, The Sojourn Teashop)

Li: Have you read Jia Pingwa’s work The Sojourn Teashop, which was translated into English this year?

A: To be honest, I do not know much about it, and the sales of the translated version of the book do not seem to be very good, but I have a bit of an impression of the author, Jia Pingwa. His masterpiece, Ruined City, I remember, was banned from being distributed in China because of his bold portrayal of sexuality, power, and morality, which was extremely controversial in China.

Li: Indeed, but that has not stopped Ruined City from becoming a classic of contemporary Chinese literature. Jia Pingwa’s works are written in a delicate style, and his exploration of human nature delves into astonishing depths.

Jia Pingwa’s latest novel, The Sojourn Teashop, follows Ruined City and once again focuses on the urban life. However, in this new work, his narrative lens shifts from the perspective of men to that of urban women. In this work, Jia Pingwa delicately depicts the destinies of more than a dozen urban women, whose stories unfold in a teashop called ‘Sojourn’. These urban women are torn between tradition and modernity, bondage and freedom, and their stories involve a variety of themes such as lesbianism, women’s liberation, spiritual betrayal, professional growth, independence and dependence, from which they map out the pressures and challenges faced by contemporary women.

A: You mentioned that the book features a dozen women. Can you briefly tell their stories?

Li: It is really a long story. The story is narrated by Eva, a Russian woman who met Hai Ruo when she was studying in Xijing. Hairuo is a strong and independent woman. After her divorce, she started her high-end teahouse. Hai Ruo has a group of sisters who often support each other in business and spirit, so they use the teahouse as a place of emotional connection. Hai Ruo gives each sister a jade pendant to wear, so they became known as the ‘Twelve Jades of Xijing,’ with Hai Ruo as their leader. Of all the sisters, Hai Ruo is the closest to Lu Yike, the owner of an advertising agency, and they have been looking for a platelet donor for another friend of theirs, Xia Zihua.

Xia Zihua, once a glamorous model, finds herself entangled in a complicated affair with a wealthy, married businessman. Despite bearing him a child, marriage eludes her. This heartbreak and her battle against leukemia cast a shadow over her once radiant life. In these challenging times, Hai Ruo coordinates a support network to ensure Xia Zihua is never alone. Among this network is Xi Lishui, who runs a car specialty store; Yu Benwen, the owner of a bustling hotpot restaurant; Xiang Qiyu from a rehabilitation hospital; Si Yinan, owner of the mahogany furniture store; and Xu Qi, a talented actor from a local theater…

A: Wait, I find these relationships and storylines are a little confusing and trivial, especially the names of these people, which I find really hard to remember.

Li: You are right. I believe the translation of names is one of the challenges for Chinese literary works to gain recognition overseas. The names in The Sojourn Teashop carry significant wordplay and puns. These names serve not merely as identifiers for the characters but also represent their unique identities, personalities, statuses, and destinies. To capture the story’s essence accurately, a translator must have a deep understanding of the connotations behind these names. In fact, the translator actually noticed this problem when translating, as she writes in her ‘Translator’s Note’:

The name 海若 literally means “ocean-like”, which encapsulates the depth of the female characters, echoing the author’s praise in the Afterword of the real life teashop owner and her friends.

But unfortunately, the translator did not apply this awareness to her translation practice. She only introduces the meaning of one character’s name and neglectes to explain the names of other characters.

A: Yeah, this is also inevitable. The translation of names in Chinese literary works faces the choice of transliteration (using sound) and translation (using meaning), and the cultural and historical significance behind the names must be comprehensively considered. This reminds me of one of China’s Four Great Classical Novels, The Dream of the Red Chamber, and its clever use of name symbolism. (In this classic work, the authors, Cao Xueqin and later Gao E, masterfully employed names to not only signify character traits but also to reflect the cultural, societal, and historical backdrop of the story).

So, do you think there are any compelling aspects of The Sojourn Teashop in terms of its narrative devices?

Li: In fact, The Sojourn Teashop draws inspiration from the writing style of The Dream of the Red Chamber, creating an intertextual relationship with it. The former blends the surrealism of Western novels with the mythical nature of classical Chinese novels, merging them seamlessly and subtly.

Under the influence of Freud, surrealism claims to liberate the richness of the unconscious by prioritizing the ‘dreamlike’ and temporarily relinquishing conscious control. Jia Pingwa’s understanding and mastery of surrealist techniques are precise. The novel uses Eva’s dream of returning to Xijing City as a means to vividly depict the various events that occur in the city.By mixing dream with reality, the story gives a clear surrealistic feel.

Furthermore, the surreal narrative framework can also better accommodate mysterious plots. For instance, in the entire novel, a character named Feng Ying plays a significant role in driving the plot. She delivers messages to Zhang Huai, urging him to prompt Yiguang to repay her debts, and she also has various connections with the ‘Twelve Jades of Xijing’. However, it’s only at the end of the novel that we discover she tragically died in a plane crash right from the beginning of the story.

“Have we been seeing Feng Ying’s ghost all along?” This question is raised by a character in the novel, and it mirrors my own curiosity. When I read this, I couldn’t help but recall an earlier part of the novel where it was mentioned that Lu Yike encountered her reincarnated father twice. At first, I thought it might be that she was so heartbroken by her father’s death that she had hallucinations, but now I understand that Jia Pingwa uses these characters to disrupt the linear flow of time, creating a surreal narrative environment. Just like Lu Yike’s name implies that everything is both real and unreal. (Lu Yike, homophonous with “露亦可”, is derived from the Diamond Sutra’s “如梦幻泡影，如露亦如电”, which translates to: “All composed things are like a dream, a phantom, a drop of dew, a flash of lightning”. That is how to meditate on them, that is how to observe them…)

In The Dream of the Red Chamber, Pao Yu’s journey in the Phantom Realm of the Great Void echoes Eva’s dream of traveling to Xijing, forming a distinct intertextual bridge between the two narratives. While Pao Yu’s dream foreshadows the destinies of the Twelve Beauties of Jinling, Eva’s reveals the lives and fates of the ‘Twelve Jades of Xijing’. This narrative method not only deepens the thinking about the dilemma encountered by modern women, but also skillfully combines the charm of Western surrealism and Chinese classical novels.

A: Speaking of the lives and fates of the ‘Twelve Jades of Xijing’, what became of their endings?

Li: Actually, when I saw the name of this novel, I could guess that its ending is tragic. Both the original Chinese title “暂坐” (sitting temporary) and the more specific English translation The Sojourn Teashop are commonly used to refer to a short, temporary stay or rest. I think this term highlights the shortness of time and explores  struggles faced by Chinese women, as well as their status in society, in which they are often only allowed a ‘temporary’ presence and a ‘fleeting ’ voice. The novel begins with the prosperity of the teahouse, which represents the strength and unity of women, but by the end of the novel, with the destruction of the teahouse, the women of ‘Twelve Jades of Xijing’ are overwhelmed by various challenges: Xia Zihua is defeated by fate and ends her life; Hai Ruo, the owner of the teahouse, is arrested by the police; Ying Lihou becomes embroiled in a serious debt dispute after being betrayed by her favorite sister Yan Nianchu; Lu Yike runs away to Malaysia in order to escape the harsh reality of life in Xijing…

A: Are you suggesting that in The Sojourn Teashop, Jia Pingwa is hinting at negative endings for all women? I believe this reflects how he overlooks women’s plight, showing his deep-rooted sense of patriarchy. What do you think?

Li: I agree with you. In The Second Sex, Beauvoir observes: “Everything that men have written about women should be viewed with suspicion, because they are both judge and party.” Although Jia Pingwa has repeatedly emphasized that he respects women, readers can always find patriarchal ideas in his works.

In the novel, there are few but highly significant male characters, and one of them is Yi Guang (whose name means ‘like light’). His introduction in the story is akin to his name, as he carries his own aura of radiance. He is the ‘signature’ of Xi Jing City; even a piece of his calligraphy can fetch a high price of 100,000 yuan with ease. He maintains varying degrees of ambiguous relationships with this group of women. He always appears alongside these women at crucial moments and assists them in making important decisions. These women also regard Yi Guang as their spiritual advisor. Moreover, when Yi Guang speaks, Jia Pingwa clearly adopts a similar male standpoint, saying, “Loving women makes a man noble!” This statement implies that the love for women is merely a means to elevate further the status of men, revealing a kind of ironic self-importance.

In The Sojourn Teashop, Jia Pingwa ultimately portrays all these urban women involved in public life as distorted figures who submit to men and materialism, where all emotions become sacrifices to interests, power, and male dominance. To this day, the unconscious practice of portraying women, revealing their fate and evaluating their behaviour from a male standpoint is widespread, especially in China. The patriarchal consciousness expressed by writers in their works will subtly affect readers, solidify the idea that women are the ‘second sex’, and increase the difficulty of women’s liberation.

No work is perfect, but nevertheless, these shortcomings also serve as a form of reflection, which precisely shows certain aspects of the current Chinese society.

I understand that reading such a book might be challenging, but would you be willing to give it a try after our conversation?

A: I’ve noticed that many works of Chinese literature often go unnoticed by the general public. In a world dominated by English, Chinese literature indeed faces significant challenges. However, this also makes us appreciate its differences and uniqueness even more. Just as the title of this novel, The Sojourn Teashop, suggests, perhaps we should pour ourselves a cup of tea, sit down quietly, and truly experience and embrace the intercultural impact the novel can bring, along with the beauty and insights it offers.