The Fiction Monthly (Chinese:小說月報; pinyin:Xiaoshuo Yuebao; Original English title: The Short Story Magazine) was a Chinese literary journal published by the Commercial Press in Shanghai. First published in July 1910, its original editors were Yun Tieqiao (惲鐵樵) and Wang Chunnong (王蒓農). In January 1921, Mao Dun (Shen Yanbing) became its chief editor beginning with Volume 10, Issue 1. Fiction Monthly closed its doors in 1932 after the Japanese invasion of Shanghai with their naval and air bombardment (January 28 Incident). Altogether there were 22 volumes or 262 issues, including four specials.
Publication history
The Fiction Monthly originally published poems and stories in the classical wenyan style, and plays in the new style. Western fiction and plays were also translated into wenyan. It was the domain of "Mandarin Duck and Butterfly School" (鴛鴦蝴蝶派) literature, published entertaining and recreational articles. The selections included popular love stories and situational novels. Many traditional serial novels were published in the journal. It was an important platform for the traditional scholars.
Zheng Zhenduo became the main editor since the volume 14, issue 1 in 1923. Due to the Shanghai Massacre on April 12, 1927, Zheng went to Europe and Ye Shengtao became the main editor instead of Zheng. Zheng came back to be the main editor again since volume 20, issue7 in June 1929.
Background
Zhou Zuoren strongly promoted humanist literature, struggled for human freedom, attacked all traditional literatures including the Journey to the West because they were fulfilled with traditional moral rules such as Confucian morality. Soon after Shen Yanbing joined the Shanghai Communist Party group, the authorities of the Commercial press decided to adapt to the new trend of the May 4th movement and completely reform the Fiction Monthly. It was the second literary journal to be published by Commercial Press.
Format
It is visually similar to general journals, comprised 80 to 100 pages, shorter than Xin Xiaoshuo (新小說) and longer than Xiuxiang Xiaoshuo (繡像小說). It was printed much more closely than other journals, split to upper and lower halves in a regular format, fifteen lines of twenty-one characters on each of it. There are many more characters on one page which make the magazine very small thus it can be easily carried.
Notable contributors
Yun Tieqiao: Yun is second editor after Wang Chunnong. Fiction Monthly transform to a serious and elegant literature magazine, it became one of the most outstanding magazines in China when he was the editor. Its sales amount was more than ten thousand every month, it also sold overseas to Japan, British, etc. It was an ideal platform for development of new literature.
Mao Dun: Mao Dun studied how to marry the new and old literatures together. When the new reformed version of Fiction Monthly was published, the issue is an adaptation of literary evolution.
↑Chen, Yehua (2018). "Xiaoshuo yuebao (1921–1931) as a Cultural Mediator of Small Literatures in China". In Roig-Sanz, Diana; Meylaerts, Reine (eds.). Literary Translation and Cultural Mediators in 'Peripheral' Cultures. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. pp.113–155. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-78114-3_5. ISBN978-3-319-78113-6.
↑Feng, L (1996). "Democracy and Elitism: The May Fourth Ideal of Literature". Modern China. 22 (2): 170–196. JSTOR189342.
123Gimpel, Denise (2001). Lost Voices of Modernity: A Chinese Popular Fiction Magazine in Context. University of Hawaii Press.
↑Hull, David (2016). "Value in What is Saved and What is Lost: Textology in Mao Dun's Eclipse". Frontiers of Literary Studies in China. 10 (2): 204–233. doi:10.3868/s010-005-016-0015-5.
