asia specific
Mainland writers who challenge Communist Party orthodoxy have long suffered repression, but those who interpret cultural values must also be wary of the authorities, as the latest episode in the ongoing tight censorship of literary publications shows.
The forced departure of Tian Ying from his role as editor-in-chief of Guangzhou literary journal Haucheng for publishing a story about Fuxi and Nuwa, China's Adam and Eve, in which the two propagate the world by having sex, is the latest evidence of the strength of the censors' grip.
Word in mainland literary circles is that the authorities felt the sexual content in the novella Kaiduan (The Beginning), was disrespectful to China's ancestors since it represented a sexualisation of the mythological story of how Pangu created the world.
Stripped of his post at Haucheng by the publishers in a move said to have followed pressure from propaganda officials in Beijing, Tian, who is under investigation and couldn't be reached for comment, is now working in a junior editorial position.
He attracted the attention of censors earlier this year when he oversaw publication of Serve the People, a controversial novella by mainland author Yan Lianke in which two lovers attached to the People's Liberation Army achieve sexual ecstasy while smashing statues and other images of Mao Zedong and leading Communists.
