Regionalism and Non-regionalism of Ba Jin’s Works

摘要

Modern Chinese literature witnessed the popularity of Sichuan writers like Li Jieren and Sha Ting,who were well known for their distinctive regional characters and the experiences portrayed in their works,telling unadulterated“Sichuan Stories”and depicting lives in the context of Ba-Shu culture.People even consider their works to be the modern“Chronicles of Huayang(Huayang Guo Zhi)in modern time.”However,when we look at Ba Jin,his works are not like typical Sichuan writers(such as Guo Moruo,Li Jieren,Sha Ting,and Ai Wu).He did not pay much attention to depicting the customs and lives in Sichuan,and we can seldom find the flavor of Ba-Shu culture in his works.When editing Chinese Literature and Regional Culture in the 20th Century in 1995,Yan Jiayan so commented,“To study Sichuan literature Ba-Shu culture,it is not appropriate to pick Ba Jin(though he was a great writer with great contributions)”(Li,1997).As it were,the relationship between Ba Jin and the Ba-Shu culture is delicate.Ba Jin showed his distinctive choices and pursuit in this relationship.By studying the“regionalism”and“non-regionalism”of Ba Jin’s works,we can better understand Ba Jin and his writing.It is also enlightening for us to review the future development of Ba-Shu culture.