Delving into the 'filth' of China's corruption
Wang Xiaofang worked in the Chinese civil service for many years, finally reaching the position of private secretary to a provincial deputy mayor. This was before the man he served, Ma Xiangdong, was sentenced to death for gambling away US$3.6 million of public funds in Macau's casinos in 2001. Wang later turned to writing novels about politics and corruption in China, authoring many best-sellers, including , his first book translated into English and recently published by Penguin. He talks to
It depicts Peng Guoliang, the vice-mayor of Dongzhou city, as he is exposed and punished in the process of trying to frame his main rival, the vice-governor of the province, Liu Yihe, in a scramble for power and influence. The novel tries to grasp the nature of our age. It reveals the crisis hidden deep in people's hearts. It focuses on how the power struggle influences those all around, especially the lives of five civil servants who work in the Dongzhou municipal government.
I once worked as private secretary to a deputy mayor, and that is why I know all the details of a regular day as an official. I also witnessed astonishing corruption cases, in which officials I knew were punished by party discipline and state law. But the trauma I suffered from those experiences might be the most precious treasure of my life. These proved to be rich material for my literary creations. That said, the essence of a novel is fiction, and fiction requires writers to use their imagination and creativity based on real-life experiences.
The creation of was like a tough journey into my soul. Henrik Ibsen once said: "I write about filth because society is filthy per se. I came down into the gutter because the gutter needed cleaning." Writers need to emphasise the truth and point right into the heart of human nature. The book will help readers get to know the current reality of Chinese society, because it seizes on the most unique aspect of society, which is power worship. is a mirror through which we are able [to see] … the truth and secrets behind the mirror.
I used aspects of both fiction and non-fiction. In the book the most truthful parts are lessons I learned from personal experience. However, although Huang Xiaoming has some of my younger self's characteristics, he is a fictional character.
All of my novels are set in Dongzhou, capital of the fictitious Qingjiang province. Readers like to try to match it with real places. They say Dongzhou is Shenyang, Qingjiang province is Liaoning, and the Heishui River is Hun River. This is too narrow. Dongzhou is the divine land of the Orient - it is China. I created a central metaphor full of hidden sins and filth: Heishui River [Black River in Chinese] and Dongzhou are located in Qingjiang province [Qingjiang means Clear River in Chinese]. I hope one day Heishui is able to turn into Qingjiang for us.
My writing not only takes on a multi-part narrative form, allowing every character to play the role of the protagonist and recount the story from their personal point of view, but also makes use of techniques such as the use of metaphor, the absurd, symbolism, satire, fantasy and others to deepen the frame. Reading this book should be like entering the museum of the soul.
The most horrifying experience I had was living through the case against mayor Ma Xiangdong [who was sentenced to death in 2001]. After the political turmoil ended, I was assigned a good position, but I didn't want to return to being a spiritual eunuch. I decided to resign, pick up my pen and start looking for a purpose, a spiritual homeland for myself.
Fighting corruption cannot only depend on individuals - it also needs a good system. In the novel, before [Peng Guoliang] is put to death he tells the reporter Huang Xiaoguang, who had gone to interview him in prison, that he was really a victim of the system. I expressed this idea in my early books as well - that anti-corruption cannot only depend on personal achievement, that only reform of the whole system can limit corruption.
