Leung, For-Hing. Da Shi Dai li de Xiao Za Zhi: “Xin Er Tong” Ban Yue Kan (1941-1949) Yan Jiu (review)

Much bridging is needed between Anglophone and Sinophone research on children’s literature, and Leung’s research on Modern Children’s Magazine (Xin Er Tong 新兒童) deserves such attention. The magazine’s historical significance goes beyond the Sinophone discourse because it testifies a time of global unrest. Founded in Hong Kong in June, 1941, it was the only children’s magazine in print throughout WWII and the Second Chinese Civil War in the Pacific region (“Chinese Editor Here to Speak”; Naka). Its editorial board fled to Guangdong province in 1942 and returned to Hong Kong in 1946, all the while keeping the bi-weekly magazine in print. In 1949, it was clamped down by the British colonial government as core staff members were allegedly involved in the Chinese Communist Party. Although the magazine is still running today under a different title, Leung confines his study within the period of its foundation in 1941 and its intermission in 1949. Its recommencement in Guangzhou in 1952 displayed a blatant ideological change in editorial direction due to the strict control imposed by the Communist regime, losing “the freedom, tolerance, and open-mindedness” which characterized the magazine and Hong Kong literature (Leung 71). Given its historical significance and wide distribution network across Asia and even the US, it is unfortunate that a comprehensive study on children’s literature in China such as Mary Ann Farguhar’s Children’s Literature in China: From Lu Xun to Mao Zedong (1999) has overlooked it. Rarity of surviving issues may be a reason, which makes Leung’s study even more valuable.

The study is divided into two sections. The first part outlines the socio-historical context of the era in which the magazine was founded. Leung discusses the magazine’s ideologies and its impact on the readers. “Letters to Wan Jiji” (雲姊姊, literally means Big Sister Wan, editor Wong’s self-reference) was the reader-editor correspondence section, which most characterized the magazine. Wong’s heartfelt responses to the readers covered topics like general knowledge and moral and social issues such as justice, fairness, poverty, and solidarity. Readers also wrote her about their wartime struggles. Later the idea of “child-correspondent” (兒童通訊員) was introduced. Wong encouraged readers to contribute to the magazine and to correspond with fellow readers to encourage one another through the tough times.

The second part offers literary analysis of works by eight major contributors to the magazine and their respective biographical studies. Leung selects excerpts of their works representative of their artistic styles and ideological positioning. He showcases a variety of genres and text types—from non-fiction articles on science, geography, history, and culture to fairy tales, short stories, autobiographies, nursery rhymes, comic strips, poems, riddles, etc. The themes mostly echoed the wartime needs of children and society. The anti-Japanese invasion, and later anti-war message, was evident. Themes such as poverty, hyperinflation, and other consequences of war were also common. As editor-in-chief, Wong penned a significant part of the content under various pseudonyms. Her works carried a certain degree of didacticism, guiding readers to develop correct moral values and qualities such as honesty and courage against oppression. But as Leung argues, her tone was expository instead of authoritarian and instructional. This attitude is consistent with the editorial direction of the magazine and its founding mission.

Leung triangulates his primary and secondary materials with oral history collected from multiple interviews with Wong and Fung Fei Fung, an avid reader and child-correspondent of the magazine from the 1940s. Leung’s findings are therefore constantly informed by multiple voices: the voice of the magazine’s articles and readers’ letters from the 1940s, the voice of literary critics from the late 1980s to 2000s, and the voice of...