Mian Mian's Candy

Mian Mian’s autobiographical novel “Candy” talks about “ Freedom and choice” of young people. This is an old topic but written in a new style. It’s about a problematic girl Hong and her problematic boyfriends and problematic friends she meets in her life.

Hong is a girl who is unwilling to enter the community and not knowing how to enter into her society. The novel narrated the history in a puzzle form that they scattered all over this novel. We as readers need to think of a way to put them together in a completed picture. After culture revolution, Hong’s father was very proud of their identities as “educated people” Mona Lisa’s mysterious smile and Beethoven’s symphony became the biggest fear of her childhood. “Our neighbors don’t have recore player, TV, plenty of meat, nice clothes, and cooking oil as we do, we are surrounded by families that they live on picking up vegetable leaves on the floor in farmers market. My father thought I should feel lucky.” Hong’s and Sai Ning’s father are both “educated people”. They both experienced a “no choice” culture revolution.

Many years later, her boyfriend Sai Ning told her, Beijing is exaggerated with rock bands and performance art. They are all about heavy metal music. A year later, she walks out the drug rehabilitation centers and her friend shows her around shanghai. She said, “Shanghai’s Huaihai Road has changed dramatically, many beautiful stores, many new things…Shanghai is not what it used to be, it changes every week.” Hong’s problem is not Du Liniang’s problem in Tang Xianzu’s novel nor Zhang Ailing’s Liusu, but it is the problem of 20 century young girl. She wants or has freedom in some senses, but she does not know how to use them properly. She is a confused, passionate, and muddled girl.

Wang Shuo said, “Mian Mian uses her body to write her novel.” “Problematic girl” Hong loves “ using her body to read men, using her skin to think.” I think the reason her book Candy was forbidden not because its political view, but its explicated description of sex. If Chinese government bans words like penis, hooker, intercourse, obviously any stories about those elements would be banned. Not to mention that Chinese government decides to ban government leaders’ full name for the public, which means, you can only use “Chairman Mao” not “Mao Zedong.” A famous old time folk song’s lyrics are “I love Beijing Tiananmen, sun rising from Tiananmen, our great leader Mao Zedong, leading our way towards future.” Since June 4th Tiananmen square protest in 1989 has become an extremely sensitive topic for Chinese government, if you ever want to write the lyrics on your personal blogs or forums, it would appear like this, “I love Beijing sensitive words, sun rising from sensitive words, great leader sensitive words, leading our way towards future.” Mian Mian’s Candy was forbidden officially when it was published, but illegal publishers made it very popular in black markets, or three wheel bicycle book vendors on sidewalks or in famers markets. This book brought huge excitements to young readers in China like American teen boys first reading porno magazines.

Mian Mian’s writing style truly inspired many young writers such as An Ni Bao Bei and Mu Zimei whose writing styles are also futilitarian, lots of sexual contents, confused and suicidal young girls and boys. I used to be a writer for a newspaper in Shanghai, all my friends write like the way Mian Mian does. Here is an example I wrote yesterday.

"我從這家隱藏在街角的小店走出來的時候，陽光灼熱的脫離了秋季軌道。站在雕花的路燈下發了呆很久。夜晚再柔和的燈，再如何安靜地傾聽情人們得愫語，白天的時候只有鏽蹟斑駁的孤獨。

開車去公園的路上經過San Gabriel Mission，許多年前西班牙的傳道飄揚過海來到荒蕪的美洲大地，在這裡建立了第一個教堂。這裡是人們熱愛的婚紗攝影景點之一。經常看到幾對新人各自霸 佔不同的角落拍攝婚紗照。白色婚紗，黑色禮服，茵茵的草地，古老殘破的磚牆，百年時光的流淌，甜蜜的戀人。愛情璀璨的煙花表演。我撥了你的號碼，在沒有接通之前，在沒有忘記你之前，我掛了電話。

我在公園樹蔭下的草地上躺下，找到一個條色花紋的小方枕，我把身體釋放在輕佻漫步的柔風裡面。 閉上眼睛。依舊能看到陽光穿過層層疊疊的樹蔭在地上留下斑駁的花紋。"

What really happened was-

"今天真是熱阿。找個地方睡個好覺。"