Career Qiu began writing poems in Chinese in 1978, studying under the poet
Bian Zhilin (卞之琳). While an academic in China, Qiu wrote poetry and scholarly articles, With Qiu's 1989 decision to stay in the United States for political reasons, publishing in China became difficult and he began writing mostly in English. After Qiu finished his Ph.D. in 1995, he visited China again after a long absence. So he decided that a novel was better for describing "this type of dramatic change -- you can call it 'best of times, worst of times'". Thus was born his protagonist Inspector Chen Cao, like Qiu a Chinese poet and translator from Shanghai who studied English literature, but also a policeman. Qiu says, "A cop needs to walk around, knock on people's doors and talk to various people. This particular cop is very helpful because he's an intellectual. He's not only going to catch a murderer; he also tries to think what's wrong historically, socially, culturally — in what kind of a context did this tragedy occur?" The scandals and downfall of the high Chinese official
Bo Xilai formed a basis for the ninth novel,
Shanghai Redemption. In many of the Inspector Chen novels, Qiu portrays traditional Shanghai life amidst the old alleyways and also how it is rapidly disappearing with modernization. These are also themes in two of his other works:
Red Dust is a set of short stories about the inhabitants of a small lane in Shanghai, spanning Mao's rise to the return of capitalism;
Disappearing Shanghai combines intimate black-and-white photos of older Shanghai with poems by Qiu. Qiu visits his old family house in Shanghai occasionally; frozen in time, it is filled with old carved furniture and devoid of plumbing (having instead a
chamber pot). One of the most significant stylistic symbols in Qiu Xiaolong' s novel is that he incorporates a lot of poetic writing, which stylistically owes more to
Eliot and
Yeats than it does to
classical Chinese verse. Qiu's teacher,
Bian ZhiLin, significantly influenced him on his career path as well. When he was pursuing his master's degree, he started writing poems when his teacher Bian suggested him to do so. Furthermore, following Bian's footstep, Qiu started to write novels in English as Bian was writing English novels instead of Chinese novels. Qiu believes it is an advantage rather than a disadvantage to write from a distance, which reflects the fact that he is writing about China from a distance. One may see from an angle what those living in the place fail to see. According to Qiu, he is using his detective novels as a scope to view Chinese society, raising important political and social issues about contemporary China. As he said:“The 'protagonist' of my novel is actually China, whereas the detective fictions are just the masks--the Western society has many bias and misunderstanding when they are introducing China. I hope to portray parts of the true China using English, and talk about the changes and confusions Chinese people are experiencing during the period of social transition."
Comments and critiques Comments His series of novels featuring Shanghai Inspector Chen Cao has been praised for its accurate portrayal of modern life in communist China, where a difficult transition toward a more Western society and capitalist economy conflicts with traditional Chinese values and a still-oppressive and bureaucratic government. Many reviewers concluded that Qiu's descriptions of China and its society were the most interesting parts of the book, and that the murder mystery serves as a device to paint the nation's portrait. Connie Fletcher, writing in
Booklist, declared that the book was "fascinating for what it reveals about China as well as what it reveals about a complex man in this setting."
Critiques Qiu Xiaolong's work has been criticized by Chinese critics and readers who claim that his depiction of China is not real as his target audience is primarily Western readers. Some Chinese critics have complained that Qiu's content plays to
orientalism that appeals to Western perceptions of China, utilizing cultural elements like folklore, ancient poetry, and cuisine. Critics also argue that Qiu's novels lack deductive reasoning and suspenseful enough plot to be considered a worthy detective story.
Self-critique by Qiu Qiu's themes often revolve around corruption in China. He has claimed that since the Communist party has taken over control of the media, the internet has become an important and effective way for people to speak out for justice in spite of constant censorship. He has argued that political reform in China would be impossible despite dramatic economic changes. His detective novels’ protagonist Inspector Chen often uncovers corruption while investigating case, which turns his idealism toward pessimism about the Chinese political system. He also has commented that his love of incorporating authentic regional Chinese food into his fiction is related to feelings of nostalgia, such as
Marcel Proust famously does in
Remembrance of Things Past; and that traditional food in present China still exists because of the food-safety scandals. == Awards ==