Jia Pingwa, the Concept of Ren 仁, and the Reading of Fiction

摘要

This article examines Jia Pingwa as a novelist of humanitas, a writer exploring the notion of ren 仁. His characters may not be distinguished or renowned, not 大名頭的人, but they are 大人, people who are “intelligent, honest, courageous, and hardworking.” They are characters imbued with a sense of ren 仁, which is not, as Western translators have mistranslated and misinterpreted it, “virtue” or “benevolence” – although ren 仁 can lead to any of these admirable qualities. The Chinese notion of ren 仁 is the recognition of the indisputable fact that every human being is the offspring of two people, and the genealogical and genetic heir of thousands, if not millions of ancestors. The notion of ren 仁 is the relatedness of all humankind. it also involves a recognition that each of us partakes of the qualities of other humans. This is the world that Jia Pingwa depicts in his fiction, and in his prize-winning novel, Turbulence, 浮躁.