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Fortress Besieged | 
| Authors: Zhongshu Qian, Jeanne Kelly, Nathan K. Mao
Creator: Jonathan Spence
Brand: Cosco
Category: Book
List Price: $16.95
Buy New: $10.00
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Avg. Customer Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 182331
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 416
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 8.8 x 6.1 x 0.9
MPN: N32
ISBN: 0811215520
Dewey Decimal Number: 891.1352
EAN: 9780811215527
ASIN: 0811215520
Publication Date: February 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| • | Frame/Housing Material(s) - ABS Plastic | | • | Impression Diameter [Nom] - 5/8 in | | • | Ink Color(s) - Black, Blue, Green, Purple, Red | | • | Ink Type - Pre-Inked, Self-Inking | | • | Layouts Available - 190 |
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Product Description
Custom round stamps feature soft-touch ergonomically-designed handle for better control and added comfort. Attached lid prolongs stamp life. Available in five ink colors: black, blue, red, green or purple. Stamp Type: Custom Message; Message(s): NA; Years: NA; Layouts Available: 190.
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| Customer Reviews:
 A PseudoIntellectual View of PseudoIntellectuals April 16, 2008
One of the hardest 'types' of literature to write is satire. Not only does it take deft skill and intelligence, you also have to walk a fine line between farce and stupidity. Reading the translation of satire, is doubly difficult because of the lack of cultural understanding or in this case the historical setting.
Take for instance the title "Fortress Besieged" which itself comes from an old French proverb on marriage. But in 1938/39, China itself was besieged by the Japanese, and China's culture was besieged by American movies and Western European culture. So how much of this novel is really a roman a clef for the wars of the middle of the twentieth century?
Our hero, is a young man who has hoped to 'skate' through life and live 'free and easy'. At the beginning you would think that his luck changes when his intended bride dies (ok I know that sounds weird) and his ersatz father-in-law gives him money to study in Europe. But his bad luck comes from his wasting of his time while he's in Europe instead of putting his mind to developing a useful skill.
All of his problems are the result of his inability to think any problem through to the end, and instead, choosing to make impetuous decisions that always leave him in a worse position. He takes a job at a university in the 'interior' but makes the mistake of not knowing what his position will be or what is expected of him. He makes it worse by informing the school president that his degree is 'bogus'. Why didn't he leave well enough alone and play along?
His marriage (which is the strongest part of the book) is in itself taken on in the most spurious manner, so that he once again makes a decision that he has no idea of what the outcome(s) will be. He knows nothing of the woman or her family or what chemistry they have between them. They think that because they are both 'college graduates' that they will be compatible and everything else will fall into place. Yeah, right!
More than any other time in history, societies all over the world were changing to reflect the powerful forces unleashed by the First World War, the economic chaos of the first worldwide depression, and the coming to the for of both Fascism, Communism and central planning. At the same time, these societies were being bombarded by the first mass media (radio and movies) and worldwide travel (airplanes and transoceanic liners).
Like Rick said at the end of "Casablanca", 'the troubles of two little people don't amount to a hill of beans' when the world is going to 'hell in a handbasket'. But they'll always have Shanghai or maybe not.
 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia January 2, 2007
3 out of 7 found this review helpful
Fortress Besieged (Simplified Chinese: IC; Traditional Chinese: uC; Pinyin: wi chng) is a comedy of manners written by Qian Zhongshu, published in 1947, and is widely considered as one of the masterpieces of twentieth century Chinese literature. The novel is a humorous tale about middle-class Chinese society in the 1940s. It is also one of the most well-known contemporary Chinese novels in China, and has been made into a popular television series during the early 1990s.
Origin and History
The book was begun while Qian Zhongshu and wife Yang Jiang were living in Shanghai during the Japanese occupation. According to Yang Jiang, the successful production of several of her plays inspired Qian to write a full length novel.
The novel was begun in 1944, and completed in 1946. Much of the characters and plot are taken from the experiences of Qian and Yang abroad and in China. For example, the opening scene at sea reflects their journey from France to China onboard the ship Athos II.
The title is based on a French proverb:
Marriage is like a fortress besieged: those who are outside want to get in, and those who are inside want to get out.
The novel is known for its acerbic asides, such as describing one young lady in the following way:
At first, they called her "truth" because "the truth is naked". But then, she's not actually completely naked. So they amended it to "partial-truth".
The novel was published in Shanghai in 1947. The second edition was published 1948. The third edition in 1949. After the Communist Revolution, the book was not printed again in mainland China until 1980. In the mean time, it was also banned in Taiwan because of its satire of the Nationalist government.
The novel has been translated into many languages. These include the Russian version which appeared in 1979, the American English version in 1979; and the German version in 1982.
Plot Summary
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
Set in the 1930s it follows the misadventures of Fang Hung-chien (Fang Hongjian), a bumbling everyman who wastes his time studying abroad, and secures a fake degree when learning he has run out of money and must return home to China. The first part of the novel is set on the boat home, where Fang courts two young ladies.
Fang was the son of a country gentleman. A marriage had been arranged for him while at university, but the intended wife died before he could see her. After completing a degree in Chinese literature, he went to Europe where he studied at several universities without pursuing a degree. After being pressured by his family, he bought a fake degree from an American Irishman.
The year was 1937, and Fang was returning to China from Europe along with other graduating Chinese students. One fellow traveller was Miss Su, in her late 20s. She is quite pretty in a thin and pallid style, but her choosy attitude towards men means she is still unattached and getting slightly desperate. Another young lady on board was Miss Bao, who tended towards the tanned and voluptuous. Fang pursued Miss Bao with some success during the voyage. However, when the boat reached Hong Kong, Miss Bao disembarked into the embrace of her fiancee, a middle-aged, balding doctor, and Fang realised he had been used.
Fang then became more intimate with Miss Su. However, after they disembarked at Shanghai, Fang became occupied with finding a job, and attending matchmaking sessions arranged by his parents and former in-laws. After one failed attempt, Fang decided to contact Miss Su. While visiting her he also met her cousin, Miss Tang, and Miss Su's suitor, Zhao Xinmei.
The second section follows his securing a teaching post at a new university - where his fake credentials are used to keep him in line, and in the third part, it centers on his disastrous marriage. The novel ends with his wife leaving him, while he listens to a clock chiming.
Famous Chinese novel and a lot of similes. December 18, 2005
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Fortress Besieged
by Zhongshu Qian
Facing a precarious looking rattan footbridge without railings & "afraid he'd only make a mess out of it if he tried to help her" all Fang Hung-chien "could do was smile ruefully" at the young lady---whom he'd earlier characterized behind her back as "a delicate little Shanghai girl"---and say "that leaves just us two cowards." To which she countered: "Mr. Fang, are you scared? I am not. Would you like me to go in front. If you follow me you won't have to look at the void below and you won't have the feeling that the bridge is endless. This way you would have more confidence." (Aside: try re-reading the above after substituting the word "life" in lieu of "the bridge.") Once the pair were safely across Mr. Fang's pal Chou Hsin-mei smilingly asked of the lady (whom I'm not going to name for your benefit) "were you leading him from the front or was he looking after you from behind?" Good question. And this is what this book is about, such questions on the subject of courtship---but not relating to any and all Chinese. No, this novel by a Chinese intellectual---whose first names can be translated as "book-lover"---primarily concerns & satirizes the foibles and pretensions of other intellectuals; particularly Chinese students who have journeyed abroad seeking foreign degrees.
The story thus conveniently commences aboard a steamship making its way back to China, peopled by a number of Chinese students (among them Fang Hung-chien) returning from Europe. The year is 1937 and the characters' lives are set amidst a backdrop of European hegemony and increasing Japanese aggression vis-a-vis China. For the author Chinese students who go abroad to study are more often mere pretenders, hollow intellectuals, trying to surmount some sort of self-perceived Chinese inferiority complex. Needless to say, such folk in this book do not fare well when it comes to having successful relationships. Chou Hsin-mei comes out of it better than most in the end, but only after experiencing much turmoil over a number of years, having presumably married (we aren't actually told) a "simple honest country girl"---his earlier declared goal upon his having been jilted by "a city-girl with a college degree." Likewise, we aren't told much about how other rather prominent characters' choices turn out for them in the end either. Only Fang's degree of happiness enjoyed is elaborated on to the extent that one may draw conclusions on the subject of marriage; and whether it's cracked up to be all that some imagine it to be. P.S & word to the wise: Fang's character writing to a woman in the novel cautiously admits that "I can only use cliches which have been worked to death for thousands of years to express my feelings." For my taste, the author's writing style parallels this comment far too closely. If you are annoyed by an over usage of similes then "Fortress Besieged" (what the author likens a marriage to be akin) is going to grate on your nerves at times. On but several pages I found just these similes utilized by the author: Something was..."like finding a pack of cigarettes when one craves opium;" ..."like rice-flour noodles without elasticity;"..."like a balloon released by a child;"..."like the last few notes that float in the air after the music has ceased;"..."like a phantom of early dawn"... The author, for no apparent purpose, also liberally employs English idioms, scattered words and phrases---not surprising that he himself taught English (and studied in Europe, I might add), but it is more than a touch ironic when juxtaposed with his thesis that "returned students from abroad suffer from enlarged egos." (P.P.S. I came across and read this book while in China myself.) Cheers!
A review by a Chinese reader June 22, 2005
12 out of 16 found this review helpful
I read the Chinese (original) version by Qian Zhongshu many times, but not the English translation yet. So I would be more than willing to rate the book a 5 star, it's not a review about the English version of it.
Neither my Chinese nor English language skill could be adaquate to comment on the translation of such a masterpiece in Chinese modern literature though.
So I will just say this: while reading this book, if you suddenly start laughing till tears come out, then, I guess, you really come to understand large part of the Chinese people, as well as the society.
It won't be easy for foreign readers, you need some background, history, etc to reach that stage. But if your interest in Chinese people goes beyond "cheap labour that flood WalMart with competing products", this book opens a path towards the heart of those (our) people and their (our) society. Not a quick and easy path, but a lasting one.
That's totally briliant February 13, 2004
20 out of 27 found this review helpful
The first literature work I had read is <>.It took 3 or 4 night to finish it.Actually in that situation the stress of competion did not allowed me to spend extra time on "useless hobbies", what I did was ,waiting for 1 hour on the bed till all people in my family asleepe already.Then,Iturned a flashlight on,covered myself under the comforter,read the small printings hardly;Wasn't it funny?I usually falling sleep during my reading,and waken up at 5:45 in morning,started a normally borning day.......<> had take me into the kingdom of Chinese elite literature,caused by Qian's witty tone, I entered another world in 1930's.It used to be ashamed for all Chinese ruled under Janpanese occupants,Goverment was also moved to safe place to avoid attacks.Certainly,elitists left their good life in big cities,followed the wave of "immigration",in someway ,become refugees.Even for those who newly back to China dreamed to be high class intelligentists were find a job in a brand new university in somewhere far away the city.Therefore,the characters such like Fang Hongjian were met each other, started a paradoxically embarracing journey to San lujian University......His way of life,reflected the most darkness inside a person with WEstern background.Since I opened this book,I couldn't to quit it,especially those fantastic details and WEster nhumors,In addition,the most remarkable part is the conflict between diffirent cultures. However this masterpiece was listed on forbidden books for many years when China ruled by Natioalist,because it scorned the rotteness of the rulers.Surely I enjoyed this book,I'd try to find the best fanciest words to describe the brilliance of Qian's writting.But I am not good at boasting. Instead,I sharing my <>complex with you.This might be helpful for you to judge it in a special view point.My crazy reading started at age 12,and now I am 15,continually taste any flovors of literature,<> seems like an old friend,standed on tne highest level of the bookshelf,very easily to connect with my remeberanceof things past,it mentioned me a theme more complicate than life itself.
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