The Money Demon: An Autobiographical Romance

A Note on the Translation

I have based my translation on the 1914 edition reproduced in the Zhongguo jindai xiaoshuo shiliao huibian (Materials on modern Chinese fiction) series published by the Guangwen Shuju in Taipei in 1980 as well as on the Shen bao serialization. “The Koto Story” is translated from the Xin Yiyuji (New hint of rain), which was published by the Cui Li Company of Hangzhou, probably in 1906. The Harvard-Yenching Library has a copy of the first edition, which is reprinted in Chen’s collected prose and verse, Xuyuan conggao. The frontispiece photograph of Chen Diexian is taken from the University of Michigan copy of Xuyuan changheji, a volume of congratulatory verses published on Chen’s fortieth (sui) birthday in 1918. In translating names, I plead guilty to certain inconsistencies. When there is a clear semantic point to a name, I have usually translated it. “Koto” is a translation of “Zhenglou,” the heroine’s studio name, which is derived from the musical instrument she plays. Since the zheng, although it originated in China, is known in English by its Japanese name, koto, I have chosen to call her Koto. The wife’s name is given as Suqing, except in its first occurrence, where it is Susu; I have taken the liberty of calling her Susu throughout. The maid Xiao Tan I have chosen to call Little Tan, keeping the “little” because she is the only character in the novel with that prefix. “Tan” means night orchid, which withers almost as soon as it blooms, but it does not seem to have any semantic value here, and so I have kept A Note on the Translation 293 the Chinese word. “Huangjin sui,” repeated almost as a refrain in the novel, usually means the bedevilment caused by money, but it is also sometimes personified as “money demon,” and I have chosen the latter meaning for the title. Acknowledgments I am indebted to Professor Shang Wei of Columbia University for advice on certain textual matters; to Ms. Lin Hua of Harvard for bringing a valuable source to my attention; to Professor Wang Jiquan of Fudan University, Mr. Wei Shaochang of the Chinese Writers’ Association, Shanghai branch, and Dr. Catherine V. Yeh of Heidelberg University for their general guidance; and to Mr. Eugene W. Wu and the staff of the Harvard-Yenching Library, Professors Liu Haiping and Zhang Ziqing of Nanjing University, and Dr. Andrew West of the School of Oriental and African Studies Library for their help in obtaining rare materials. I am also indebted, as ever, to Anneliese Hanan. 294 A Note on the Translation Also available in the series The Three-Inch Golden Lotus by feng jicai Translated by David Wakefield The Remote Country of Women by bai hua Translated by Qingyun Wu and Thomas O. Beebee Chaos and All That by liu sola Translated by Richard King Family Catastrophe by wang wen-hsing Translated by Susan Wan Dolling Imperfect Paradise by shen congwen Edited by Jeffrey Kinkley Virgin Widows by gu hua Translated by Howard Goldblatt The Past and the Punishments by yu hua Translated by Andrew F. Jones Shanghai Express by zhang henshui Translated by William A. Lyell Snake’s Pillow and Other Stories by zhu lin Translated by Richard King ...