Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The Rise and Rise of Chinese Science Fiction

factordaily.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 205 posts

Re: The Rise and Rise of Chinese Science Fiction

#21

Post by qlk1123 »

treephen wrote: post #13
etrautmann wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can’t parse this

it looks like he's posting from hong kong, and he is trying to avoid the Chinese government censors or get thrown in jail.

Fair enough statement, but it looks more like a direct translation from Chinese sentences to me.

> "No Harry Potter local as no magic, ..."

We don't publish localized Harry Potter (don't they? I am not sure) because magic fantasy is abandoned.

> "... no god, no fiary after 1948."

Why 1948? The year is not that meaningful for modern Hong Kong people, but it is a important year for China and Taiwan. At 1948, KMT was de facto defeated by CCP and start to retreat to Taiwan.

> "Too violent no ..."

A book cannot be published if it is too violent.

> "It is not just the rule. It is the arbitrary rule suddenly comes up."

I suppose this looks like normal English? Chinese Government intentionally keeps the publish law vague and blur, so that they can "dynamically" decide what to ban and who to capture.

> Any funny bear like honey

@flukus got this.

Re: The Rise and Rise of Chinese Science Fiction

#22

Post by glial »

yumraj wrote: post #9
BurningFrog wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We have plenty of western books on that. Hopefully Chinese SF can deal with some western neglected or taboo topics!

Such as? Edit: especially curious about which topics folks think might be considered taboos in Western science fiction.

Perhaps we have fewer children to make our ongoing existence sustainable.

Re: The Rise and Rise of Chinese Science Fiction

#23

Post by andrenth »

CptFribble wrote: post #16
yumraj wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Such as? Edit: especially curious about which topics folks think might be considered taboos in Western science fiction.

Maybe the primacy of individualism/freedoms as the only path to collective prosperity? Like, what if the Chinese model really is the best way to run a country (not an endorsement, btw)? Not "taboo," persay, but it's something thing that's not really seriously considered by most westerners (not the ones I know, at least).

But collectivism is widely popular in the west, no?

Re: The Rise and Rise of Chinese Science Fiction

#24

Post by johnnyb3 »

the_duke wrote: post #6

As far as I know the Chinese book market is heavily censored. I'd be curious about how this affects Chinese authors, and if and how they have to limit the topics and the creativity of their writing due to this.

I read Liu Cixin's trilogy cover to cover about a year ago. Many references to Western thought including the Bible, social topics, and a surprising (for me) amount of diversity injected into the plot line. Grand and sweeping, it's great Sci Fi literature. It's hard to imagine that it is the result of any significant censorship. I found it a fascinating glimpse into the modern Chinese way of thinking.

Re: The Rise and Rise of Chinese Science Fiction

#25

Post by aerophilic »

SolaceQuantum wrote: post #3
treephen wrote: post #2

I bet none of the books will tackle topics like censorship, big brother, and concentration camps for minorities

Liu Cixin already covers this in his well-known trilogy. Also, Folding Beijing is an award winning short story encompassing all three things plus class strife, written by a Chinese author.

One thing I really appreciated about the three body problem (Liu Cixin), was the “completely different perspective” brought to bear. I feel to often with (American) science fiction, you have well known and “expected” themes. What will be interesting is how much further they can go. I personally prefer a “wealth” of perspectives, and you can only get that if people are coming from different cultures.

Re: The Rise and Rise of Chinese Science Fiction

#26

Post by andrenth »

qlk1123 wrote: post #21
treephen wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

it looks like he's posting from hong kong, and he is trying to avoid the Chinese government censors or get thrown in jail.

Fair enough statement, but it looks more like a direct translation from Chinese sentences to me. > "No Harry Potter local as no magic, ..." We don't publish localized Harry Potter (don't they? I am not sure) because magic fantasy is abandoned. > "... no god, no fiary after 1948." Why 1948? The year is not that meaningful for modern Hong Kong people, but it is a important year for China and Taiwan. At 1948, KMT was de…

> No Harry Potter local as no magic, no god, no fiary after 1948.

I read that as “after 1948, no references to magic, religion, fairies (in other words, the supernatural) is allowed”.

Re: The Rise and Rise of Chinese Science Fiction

#27

Post by coupdejarnac »

ngcc_hk wrote: post #10

No Harry Potter local as no magic, no god, no fiary after 1948. Too violent no ... It is not just the rule. It is the arbitrary rule suddenly comes up. Any funny bear like honey

Harley Potler is indeed popular in China. When my Chinese friend asked me if I liked Harley Potler, it took me a few moments to figure out what she was saying.

Re: The Rise and Rise of Chinese Science Fiction

#29

Post by toufiqbarhamov »

etrautmann wrote: post #11
ngcc_hk wrote: post #10

No Harry Potter local as no magic, no god, no fiary after 1948. Too violent no ... It is not just the rule. It is the arbitrary rule suddenly comes up. Any funny bear like honey

I can’t parse this

I read it as:

No Harry Potter local as no magic, no god, no fiary after 1948.

After 1948 anything seen as promoting magic, god, fairies (more broadly fantasy) is banned.

Too violent no ...

If something is too violent it’s banned.

It is not just the rule. It is the arbitrary rule suddenly comes up.

Ultimately these rules are the whim of whoever is in power, and there isn’t necessarily any logic to it.

Any funny bear like honey

Flukes is definitely correct, Winnie is a big no-go.

Post reply on HN