The Gate of Darkness: Studies on the Leftist Literary Movement

As one of the few foundational texts to provide a critical overview of the aesthetics and politics of the leftist literary movement in China, The Gate of Darkness was previously published by the University of Washington Press in 1968 to great critical acclaim. Posthumously edited by the author’s brother Professor C. T. Hsia, this book critiques the works of leftist Chinese writers including Lu Hsün, Chiang Kuang-tz’u, and the “Five Martyrs.” As one of the few foundational texts to provide a critical overview of the aesthetics and politics of China’s leftist literary movement, The Gate of Darkness examines the conflicting dilemmas between leftist authors’ own ideals and the strict ideological frameworks imposed by the propaganda policies of the Chinese Communist Party in the early twentieth century. Numerous reviews appearing in the leading East Asian studies journals have acknowledged the historical importance of the book which has few comparisons. The cultural critic Leo Ou-fan Lee believes that this book gives one of the most significant scholarly analyses of Lu Xun’s work towards the end of his life, revealing the “darkness” that pervaded his later works such as “Wild Grass.” He calls Tsi-an Hsia “a creative and compassionate scholar” who has opened Lu Hsün’s inner “gate of darkness” to unveil “a fascinating world of demons and ghosts as dramatized in village operas and popular superstitions.”