''Xin Zhongguo'' ( "New China") is a 1910 novel written by Lu Shi'e. It is also known as ''Lixian sishi nianhou zhi Zhongguo'' ("China, forty years after the establishment of the constitutional monarchy"). It was inspired by '' Xin Zhongguo weilai ji'', a 1902 novel by

Liang Qichao Liang Qichao (Chinese: 梁啓超; Wade–Giles: ''Liang2 Chʻi3-chʻao1''; Yale romanization of Cantonese, Yale: ''Lèuhng Kái-chīu''; ) (February 23, 1873 – January 19, 1929) was a Chinese politician, social and political activist, jour ...

. Wang, David Der-wei. '' Fin-de-siècle Splendor: Repressed Modernities of Late Qing Fiction, 1849-1911''.

Stanford University Press Stanford University Press (SUP) is the publishing house of Stanford University. It is one of the oldest academic presses in the United States and the first university press to be established on the West Coast. It is currently a member of the Ass ...

, 1997. , 9780804728454. p
306
Song Weijie, author of ''Mapping Modern Beijing: Space, Emotion, Literary Topography'', wrote that the book " nvisionsa modern Shanghai and a strong China standing proudly in the ranks of nation-states."Song, Weijie. ''Mapping Modern Beijing: Space, Emotion, Literary Topography''.

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, November 17, 2017. , 9780190200688. p
240
The novel begins in Shanghai, depicted as modern and well-off, in 1950. The main character, after awakening, learns that Dr. Su Hanmin, the inventor of a spiritual medicine, used it to pull Chinese away from opium-laden dependence on Westerners as they become willing to help others, allowing them to become prosperous. (translated into English by

Ken Liu , birth_date = , birth_place = Lanzhou, Gansu, China , occupation = , nationality = American , period = , genre = Science fiction, fantasy , subject = , movement = , notableworks= * '' The Paper Menagerie'' (2011 ...

) The foreign concessions were dissolved. By 1950, China has a surplus in funds, as well as established universities and a thriving industrial sector. It

annexed Annexation, in international law, is the forcible acquisition and assertion of legal title over one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. In current international law, it is generally held to ...

Tibet as one of its provinces, and in China male and female citizens possess the same rights. ''Xin Zhongguo'' depicted a universal exposition in Shanghai. The novel reveals that the protagonist was merely dreaming about this new China, and that it had not yet happened. Xu Leiying of

China Radio International China Radio International (CRI) is the state-owned international radio broadcaster of China. It is currently headquartered in Babaoshan, Shijingshan, Beijing. It was founded on December 3, 1941, as Radio Peking. It later adopted the pinyin fo ...

stated that the author predicted the

Expo 2010 Expo 2010, officially the Expo 2010 Shanghai China, was held on both banks of the Huangpu River in Shanghai, China, from 1 May to 31 October 2010. It was a major World Expo registered by the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), in the ...

, held in Shanghai in 2010. David Der-wei Wang stated that the framework of ''Xin Zhongguo'', using a dream, " eflatesthe fantastic magnitude of the center narrative." David Wang wrote that of the books inspired by ''Xin Zhongguo weilai ji'' it had "the most complete narrative".

References

1910 novels 1910 science fiction novels 20th-century Chinese novels Chinese science fiction novels Qing dynasty novels Fiction set in 1950 Novels set in the 1950s Novels set in the future Novels set in Shanghai Novels about dreams {{1910s-sf-novel-stub

See also

References