What do you think?
Rate this book
赤地之戀
『赤地之戀』所寫的是真人實事，但是小說究竟不是報導文學，我除了把真正的人名與一部份的地名隱去，而且需要把許多小故事疊印在一起，再經過剪裁與組織。畫面相當廣闊，但也並不能表現今日的大陸全貌，譬如像『五反』，那是比『三反』更深入地影響到一般民眾的，就完全沒有觸及。當然也是為本書主角的視野所限制。同時我的目的也並不是包羅萬象，而是儘可能地複製當時的氣氛。這裡沒有概括性的報導。我只希望讀者們看這本書的時候，能夠多少嗅到一點真實的氣息。
254 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1954
54 people are currently reading
2136 people want to read
About the author
Eileen Chang
84 books673 followersEileen Chang is the English name for Chinese author 張愛玲, who was born to a prominent family in Shanghai (one of her great-grandfathers was Li Hongzhang) in 1920.
She went to a prestigious girls' school in Shanghai, where she changed her name from Chang Ying to Chang Ai-ling to match her English name, Eileen. Afterwards, she attended the University of Hong Kong, but had to go back to Shanghai when Hong Kong fell to Japan during WWII. While in Shanghai, she was briefly married to Hu Lancheng, the notorious Japanese collaborator, but later got a divorce.
After WWII ended, she returned to Hong Kong and later immigrated to the United States in 1955. She married a scriptwriter in 1956 and worked as a screenwriter herself for a Hong Kong film studio for a number of years, before her husband's death in 1967. She moved from New York to Los Angeles in 1972 and became a hermit of sorts during her last years. She passed away alone in her apartment in 1995.
She went to a prestigious girls' school in Shanghai, where she changed her name from Chang Ying to Chang Ai-ling to match her English name, Eileen. Afterwards, she attended the University of Hong Kong, but had to go back to Shanghai when Hong Kong fell to Japan during WWII. While in Shanghai, she was briefly married to Hu Lancheng, the notorious Japanese collaborator, but later got a divorce.
After WWII ended, she returned to Hong Kong and later immigrated to the United States in 1955. She married a scriptwriter in 1956 and worked as a screenwriter herself for a Hong Kong film studio for a number of years, before her husband's death in 1967. She moved from New York to Los Angeles in 1972 and became a hermit of sorts during her last years. She passed away alone in her apartment in 1995.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 29 of 61 reviews
Read
April 1, 2018The writing in Eileen Chang's Love in a Fallen City is poetic, symbolic, mysterious. There is much to like in this later novel, Naked Earth. It is, first, a good story, with many searing, memorable vignettes. And there are a handful of wonderfully shaped characters, including Ko Shan, described as a "tubercular nymphomaniac," whom I found especially endearing.
But something has changed. The War that billowed outside the Fallen City is over. Now it is Korea, seemingly. Or, maybe the battleground, instead, is the Chinese people; and the armies are political systems; the weapons, propaganda. You know, Fake News.
What Chang wrote here, we were taught. So no judgement, no horror, sounded false.
Yet, what gnaws at me is that this novel (and others) of Chang was commissioned by the United States Information Service as anti-Communist propaganda. Every word might be true. Chang insisted every word was true. It is nevertheless undeniable that the U.S. spooks got what they paid for.
Perry Link, a self-described China scholar, concedes the point that Chang was paid - a "grant" he calls it - by the United States government to write this but says the significance of the purchase has been exaggerated. In an Introduction to this book, he says it is "far-fetched" to think it distorted her writing because "she is too powerful a writer for that." He seems to be suggesting that E.L. James might be bought off, but not William Gass.
Sorry. The Russians took out ads in Facebook; it doesn't matter if that influenced a single vote. And Shoeless Joe Jackson pocketed the $10,000 from gamblers; and so it shouldn't matter that he batted .375 and didn't commit an error in the 1919 World Series.
So, I struggle with the fact that Chang wrote a novel about Chinese propagandists while she was paid to do so by American propagandists. I found that more than a little ironical.
Near the end of this book, the chief protagonist, Liu, wonders what will happen to him as a prisoner of war. Will he be repatriated to China? Permitted to go to Taiwan? Maybe India?
. . . actually, he thought, who can tell about nations?
But something has changed. The War that billowed outside the Fallen City is over. Now it is Korea, seemingly. Or, maybe the battleground, instead, is the Chinese people; and the armies are political systems; the weapons, propaganda. You know, Fake News.
What Chang wrote here, we were taught. So no judgement, no horror, sounded false.
Yet, what gnaws at me is that this novel (and others) of Chang was commissioned by the United States Information Service as anti-Communist propaganda. Every word might be true. Chang insisted every word was true. It is nevertheless undeniable that the U.S. spooks got what they paid for.
Perry Link, a self-described China scholar, concedes the point that Chang was paid - a "grant" he calls it - by the United States government to write this but says the significance of the purchase has been exaggerated. In an Introduction to this book, he says it is "far-fetched" to think it distorted her writing because "she is too powerful a writer for that." He seems to be suggesting that E.L. James might be bought off, but not William Gass.
Sorry. The Russians took out ads in Facebook; it doesn't matter if that influenced a single vote. And Shoeless Joe Jackson pocketed the $10,000 from gamblers; and so it shouldn't matter that he batted .375 and didn't commit an error in the 1919 World Series.
So, I struggle with the fact that Chang wrote a novel about Chinese propagandists while she was paid to do so by American propagandists. I found that more than a little ironical.
Near the end of this book, the chief protagonist, Liu, wonders what will happen to him as a prisoner of war. Will he be repatriated to China? Permitted to go to Taiwan? Maybe India?
. . . actually, he thought, who can tell about nations?
July 6, 2018
I tried to not like this novel. I didn't even want to read it. But I did read it, and I did like it. A lot. I'd started Naked Earth once before, probably a couple of years ago. But I'd lost interest right away when I read in the "Introduction" by Perry Link that the novel had been one of Chang's novels commissioned with a grant from the United States Information Service and intended to describe the mercilessly oppressive face of Mao's China. Link goes on to write that Chang is too good a writer to let her fiction be "distorted" for political reasons. However firmly I agree with that now, at the time I plunged into the first chapters of the novel to be greeted with a portrait of, as I expected, mechanical obedience, rote thinking, and dogmatic manipulation during the land reform movement in China's rural areas, I'd decided I didn't want to read what I thought was a polemic. I set the novel aside. Earlier this year I'd read one of Chang's later novels, the autobiographical Little Reunions. It presented different challenges, a narrative shifting back and forth across decades and one populated by a cast of over a hundred characters, many known by more than one name or title. I never really engaged with Little Reunions--held at arm's length by its tangle of characters--and I didn't want to read Naked Earth.
But you understand how it is. We're obligated to the books we own. They want to be read. They expect to be read and wait shelved or piled on table or floor for their time to come. They want to be used, they wait for the opportunity to tell us what they know. So I came back to Naked Earth. I'd finished a novel--I forget which--and casting around for what to read next I was confronted for the umpteenth time with Naked Earth and felt that tug of guilt again. And dating as it did from sometime in 2015, it was the oldest unread book I had. So I began it again but skipped Perry Link's "Introduction." I dove right into the first chapter.
I liked the novel and admire it. It's a novel of revolutionary China in the years 1949 to 1953, during the period of the communist consolidation of power. I did struggle a bit in the opening chapters dealing with rural land reform and such anticipated ideas as self-criticisms, cadres, and struggle sessions, but, their work completed in the tiny village, Chang quickly shifts her characters to propaganda work on newspapers in Peking and Shanghai. The same personal dangers always threaten wherever they are. They're subjected to constant scrutiny and evaluation, and they attend many meetings aimed at strengthening political devotion and correcting any deviations of behavior. Chang carefully writes each character tiptoeing through mine fields of how to act and mind what you say, all part of playing "chess moves aimed at minimizing punishment." It's a harsh, rigid life. But what I like best about the novel is that it's not political. Chang wrote a novel which puts a human face on people caught in the inhumanity of Chinese revolutionary political struggles. To me it's much more a novel of personal interactions within a sterile system. Maybe what the USIS wanted was a polemic. That what they got is more like a tragic romance or a romantic tragedy caused by conditions of state may say all it needs to about political perceptions. What I got was a novel set alight by love. The final groundswells are energized by love, not revolution.
But you understand how it is. We're obligated to the books we own. They want to be read. They expect to be read and wait shelved or piled on table or floor for their time to come. They want to be used, they wait for the opportunity to tell us what they know. So I came back to Naked Earth. I'd finished a novel--I forget which--and casting around for what to read next I was confronted for the umpteenth time with Naked Earth and felt that tug of guilt again. And dating as it did from sometime in 2015, it was the oldest unread book I had. So I began it again but skipped Perry Link's "Introduction." I dove right into the first chapter.
I liked the novel and admire it. It's a novel of revolutionary China in the years 1949 to 1953, during the period of the communist consolidation of power. I did struggle a bit in the opening chapters dealing with rural land reform and such anticipated ideas as self-criticisms, cadres, and struggle sessions, but, their work completed in the tiny village, Chang quickly shifts her characters to propaganda work on newspapers in Peking and Shanghai. The same personal dangers always threaten wherever they are. They're subjected to constant scrutiny and evaluation, and they attend many meetings aimed at strengthening political devotion and correcting any deviations of behavior. Chang carefully writes each character tiptoeing through mine fields of how to act and mind what you say, all part of playing "chess moves aimed at minimizing punishment." It's a harsh, rigid life. But what I like best about the novel is that it's not political. Chang wrote a novel which puts a human face on people caught in the inhumanity of Chinese revolutionary political struggles. To me it's much more a novel of personal interactions within a sterile system. Maybe what the USIS wanted was a polemic. That what they got is more like a tragic romance or a romantic tragedy caused by conditions of state may say all it needs to about political perceptions. What I got was a novel set alight by love. The final groundswells are energized by love, not revolution.
August 28, 2017
At the beginning, I thought this might be an easygoing novel of pastoral life in China. But this is Mao's China, so it turned nasty real quick, what with all the torturing of landlords and then the bizarro world red scare, where you are kidnapped and imprisoned for not being a Communist. I didn't know much about Mao's takeover of China, and this book, along with subsequent Wikipedia meanderings was a good introduction to the perversity of his misguided revolution.
It's a really sad book, but that sadness is mitigated by a rather dispassionate narrative style and (possibly) the lack of immediacy inherent in translated works. It's a good book, but not terribly exciting and I found myself more intellectually piqued due to my unfamiliarity with the subject matter than I was emotionally moved by the story.
It's a really sad book, but that sadness is mitigated by a rather dispassionate narrative style and (possibly) the lack of immediacy inherent in translated works. It's a good book, but not terribly exciting and I found myself more intellectually piqued due to my unfamiliarity with the subject matter than I was emotionally moved by the story.
October 27, 2017
"Naked Earth" suffers only from two flaws, one good, the other iffy. The good flaw is that the several denouements, the several endings that keep coming at you are infuriating. They made me mad. They made me want to toss the novel down and go saw away at a bunion or hemorrhoid (not recommended!). This is a good thing because, like any good story, it proves you wrong. That's one of the great powers of storytelling and Chang uses it to such incredible effect that you'll keep reading a few paragraphs beyond the surprise before you realize what just happened.
The not-so-good flaw is that the book, far from alone, tends to get lost in itself. There is a love story and then there is a story about one of those people in love negotiating the zany political scene of China in the early 1950s, but you're never really quite sure which one matters more. I know there's a lot of chatter in the lit crit world about Chang, her loyalties, and "how can she write about this if she wasn't there". Whatever. Readers in China, some of whom must've lived through this period read this and love it. Plus, it's fiction. It can only be so real.
No, the only issue I had with this often loving and quiet novel is its schizophrenia when it comes to its two main themes. It resolves itself in favor of the political approach (I think). Or maybe it doesn't. Anyway--read it!
The not-so-good flaw is that the book, far from alone, tends to get lost in itself. There is a love story and then there is a story about one of those people in love negotiating the zany political scene of China in the early 1950s, but you're never really quite sure which one matters more. I know there's a lot of chatter in the lit crit world about Chang, her loyalties, and "how can she write about this if she wasn't there". Whatever. Readers in China, some of whom must've lived through this period read this and love it. Plus, it's fiction. It can only be so real.
No, the only issue I had with this often loving and quiet novel is its schizophrenia when it comes to its two main themes. It resolves itself in favor of the political approach (I think). Or maybe it doesn't. Anyway--read it!
December 25, 2025
pacing-wise, this definitely does not beat love in a fallen city. but it’s very interesting to see how the historical context plays a much more prominent role in this one because of who was commissioning it! bit of politics, bit of love, bit of sadness, bit of war … haunting stuff but there just is something so calming for me in reading chinese fiction
July 13, 2019
For some reason I keep opening books by Eileen Chang and expecting a happy ending. Don’t do that unless you want your heart broken.
The tone and writing style of Naked Earth is very similar to Half a Lifelong Romance. Whereas Half a Lifelong Romance is more of a family saga and a story of young love, Naked Earth is a story of young love and a totalitarian state. The two are interdependent though and Chang weaves them together in order to examine the brutality of the Chinese cultural revolution.
I found Naked Earth a much more difficult read and more along the lines of Human Acts by Han Kang in how Chang depicts state brutality and control. In Half a Lifelong Romance, tensions centre around family and work, the differences between personal and familial desires, and the difficulty of working in state controlled industries. The title Naked Earth is incredibly apt as Chang strips open the mundane violence of the everyday. This is a story of the decisions people make, willingly as they preach the powers of the regime, and passively as they try to get through life without winding up in prison or executed. The violence is even more shocking by the banality of it. And in the centre of this is a story of young love between Liu Ch’uen and Su Nan, two young students who are sent to the countryside as part of land reform.
The opening of the book with Liu Ch’uen and Su Nan’s relationship on their way out to the countryside and their arrival in a small village, almost imbues the book with a small sense of hope and optimism. I knew what was going to happen, but Chang’s writing of the tenderness of relationships lulled me into a sense of false security. It’s the juxtaposition between Liu Ch’uen and Su Nan’s budding relationship and the actions of the Communist government that allows the blooming brutality to dig deeper into the reader. It’s a slow moving blight across the fields and an illness through the streets of the city. You don’t expect it but suddenly it’s everywhere, a fevered adoration of the regime and passive acceptance in order to stay alive. And slowly, Chang allows the regime to separate and wound the young lovers.
Again, this is not a happy ending. All the promises of young love don’t actually mean that the flower gets to fully mature. Eileen Chang is an author I keep coming back to and plan on reading all of her work one day, even though each book emotionally hurts me. This is one of her major strengths though, the ability to score a story open and reveal what lies beneath the earth.
The tone and writing style of Naked Earth is very similar to Half a Lifelong Romance. Whereas Half a Lifelong Romance is more of a family saga and a story of young love, Naked Earth is a story of young love and a totalitarian state. The two are interdependent though and Chang weaves them together in order to examine the brutality of the Chinese cultural revolution.
I found Naked Earth a much more difficult read and more along the lines of Human Acts by Han Kang in how Chang depicts state brutality and control. In Half a Lifelong Romance, tensions centre around family and work, the differences between personal and familial desires, and the difficulty of working in state controlled industries. The title Naked Earth is incredibly apt as Chang strips open the mundane violence of the everyday. This is a story of the decisions people make, willingly as they preach the powers of the regime, and passively as they try to get through life without winding up in prison or executed. The violence is even more shocking by the banality of it. And in the centre of this is a story of young love between Liu Ch’uen and Su Nan, two young students who are sent to the countryside as part of land reform.
The opening of the book with Liu Ch’uen and Su Nan’s relationship on their way out to the countryside and their arrival in a small village, almost imbues the book with a small sense of hope and optimism. I knew what was going to happen, but Chang’s writing of the tenderness of relationships lulled me into a sense of false security. It’s the juxtaposition between Liu Ch’uen and Su Nan’s budding relationship and the actions of the Communist government that allows the blooming brutality to dig deeper into the reader. It’s a slow moving blight across the fields and an illness through the streets of the city. You don’t expect it but suddenly it’s everywhere, a fevered adoration of the regime and passive acceptance in order to stay alive. And slowly, Chang allows the regime to separate and wound the young lovers.
Again, this is not a happy ending. All the promises of young love don’t actually mean that the flower gets to fully mature. Eileen Chang is an author I keep coming back to and plan on reading all of her work one day, even though each book emotionally hurts me. This is one of her major strengths though, the ability to score a story open and reveal what lies beneath the earth.
May 15, 2018
Young lovers navigate the beginning of Mao's revolution in China.
Book Review: Naked Earth is beautifully and superbly written. Every page has some small brilliancy, a turn of phrase, a description realer than reality, a moment of wisdom, a piercing insight into human nature, psychology, behavior. Eileen Chang is a virtuoso and her work is a graduate seminar in writing. But there is some small something missing here, not quite there, lurking at the shadowy fringes. I know from the book's history that this was a commissioned work of propaganda, though except for a time or two I never thought "propaganda." It seemed grabbed from life, as authentic as Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, which also seemed genuine. What keeps it from being "mere" propaganda is both the verisimilitude and the individuality of human experiences, the true-to-life details of human existence. If anything, the doomed dystopian love story reminded me of Orwell's 1984, but given its reality, Naked Earth was better. What's missing, I'm guessing is that this was not the story Chang would have chosen to tell -- beautifully, brilliantly written, but she would've put it some place else and taken a different path. So while each page is worth the price of admission, as a whole the book may be less compelling for readers without some knowledge of Chinese history. Naked Earth, in sum, attests to Chang's brilliance as a writer. Gorgeous, genius, gentle, but missing just a sliver of the writer's heart. [3½★]
Book Review: Naked Earth is beautifully and superbly written. Every page has some small brilliancy, a turn of phrase, a description realer than reality, a moment of wisdom, a piercing insight into human nature, psychology, behavior. Eileen Chang is a virtuoso and her work is a graduate seminar in writing. But there is some small something missing here, not quite there, lurking at the shadowy fringes. I know from the book's history that this was a commissioned work of propaganda, though except for a time or two I never thought "propaganda." It seemed grabbed from life, as authentic as Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, which also seemed genuine. What keeps it from being "mere" propaganda is both the verisimilitude and the individuality of human experiences, the true-to-life details of human existence. If anything, the doomed dystopian love story reminded me of Orwell's 1984, but given its reality, Naked Earth was better. What's missing, I'm guessing is that this was not the story Chang would have chosen to tell -- beautifully, brilliantly written, but she would've put it some place else and taken a different path. So while each page is worth the price of admission, as a whole the book may be less compelling for readers without some knowledge of Chinese history. Naked Earth, in sum, attests to Chang's brilliance as a writer. Gorgeous, genius, gentle, but missing just a sliver of the writer's heart. [3½★]
September 27, 2017
The book is good, but loses its way in the last few chapters. The author knew where the story was going, but I think she wasn't sure how to get there. Still a good read though.
September 2, 2024
de intelligente en ambitieuze Liu hoopt het te maken tot de top vlakbij de Communistische Partij, net als miljoenen anderen. hij wordt al vroeg geconfronteerd met de realiteit van de politiek die gelijkwaardigheid als standaard preekt naar de buitenwereld toe, maar ondertussen de excessen van de revolutionaire moraal van dichtbij meemaakt. Liu werkt mee aan de draconische landhervormingen ten koste van het feodale stelsel in het agrarische Noord-China, waarin hij al gauw doorheeft welke twijfelachtige bevelen van bovenaf gemaakt worden, die vaak eindigen in mensonterende gruwelen die het daglicht niet kunnen verdragen. rebelleren, met alle gevolgen van dien, is hoe dan ook geen duurzaam alternatief- om die reden ploetert de jongeman door en wordt hij verder geabsorbeerd in het systeem; het constant op eierschalen lopen door de propaganda, censuur, onvrijheid en bijkomende misere. tijdens het hoogtepunt van de Three Anti-campagne waarin gepoogd wordt alle onreine communisten in hoge rangen te achterhalen en straffen voor hun daden, worden ook verschillende mensen in zijn werkomgeving geraakt, evenals zijn vriendin Su en hijzelf. tegen alle verwachtingen in komt hij levend uit alle kritische overhoringen en de wekenlange opsluiting, eenmaal buiten wordt hij direct overdonderd met slecht nieuws over Su. uitzichtloosheid in China en het verlies van zijn status en lietde dwingen hem tot het opgeven van het huidige leven en het leger te dienen in de strijd tegen de imperialisten in Korea. hier onkomt hij maar niet aan de heersende, binaire wereld die is gecreëerd: China en de Sovietunie tegen het Westen, met amper ruimte voor nuance of identiteiten daartussenin. ondanks het feit dat Liu aanvankelijk overweegt zijn thuisland te verlaten, kiest hij er op het allerlaatste moment toch voor om terug te keren: op andere plekken zal hij zich ontheemd voelen, niet thuishoren, doelloos door het nieuwe leven dwalen. en ondanks alles, zo redeneert hij, is het ook zíjn China, dat van miljarden anderen, en niet uitsluitend bestemd voor de heersende macht: je proeft vertrouwen en hoop, het vooruitzicht dat er, ookal is de tijd nu nog niet rijp, het op den duur toch kan transformeren in een natie waar hij trots op kan zijn.
January 24, 2025
幾年前讀宋淇先生的兒子宋以朗在牛津大學出版社出版的家族回憶錄《宋淇傳奇——從宋春舫到張愛玲》時，有專門留意到一個小細節，当年張愛玲寫信給宋淇時坦言「《赤地之戀》是美國駐港總領事館撥款創作而出，而《秧歌》則為真情實感之創作（張在逃離中國前曾加入上海文藝代表團到蘇北農村參加過土改），兩者意義完全不同」。
當然，中共是不會在意這兩本書在創作手法上的區別，在他們眼中，張在創作時對共產黨已然顯露出濃厚的鄙夷與反感態度，加之其尖銳地譏諷「偉大領袖毛主席」，這已是為「帝國主義者站台背書」，而對土改心存不滿的張愛玲是赤裸裸的「反革命分子」，是站在「人民」對立面的「壞分子」。張的舊友、作家柯靈亦認為《秧歌》和《赤地之戀》是壞作品，原因在於「內容虛假」，可事實真的如此嗎？
書的一開始，大學剛畢業的劉荃作為土改工作隊隊員前往韓家坨參加工作。他二十有餘，態度積極，可謂是年輕有為，政治前途光明。在卡車上，他碰見了同來參加土改工作的黃絹。似乎是一見鍾情，劉荃很想說些什麼，可當著眾人的面，思來想去他還是選擇把這份激情壓制下來，改由不經意瞥視的方式，觀察著眼前這位楚楚動人的「女同志」。
抵達韓家坨後，劉荃被安排進一戶中農人家暫住。剛一進屋，這家的女主人立刻主動獻殷勤，希望全家人能與劉荃建立起良好的關係。經過打聽，劉荃得知男主人名為唐占魁，解放前靠著全家人辛勤勞動攢出的積蓄負債買下了村裡幾戶人家的閒置田。共產黨來了之後，他們全家戰戰兢兢，生怕因為這幾塊田惹來麻煩。劉荃與這家人關係交好，尤其與這對夫婦的女兒二妞。二妞跟他打趣，為他做飯，為他洗衣，久而久之劉荃對二妞產生一定的好感。經過打聽，劉荃認為這家屬中農而非地主，沒有犯下「反人民」的罪狀，應當不會惹上什麼麻煩。
可他錯了。指導韓家坨土改工作的張勵是個地道的老左棍，他聯合村裡有權勢的流氓幹部，為徹底執行上層方針，他召集那些曾被唐占魁「欺壓」的「窮苦百姓」，指控唐占魁是徹頭徹尾的地主，犯下諸多「反人民罪行」（例如幫工無錢買棺材埋葬父親，唐占魁借錢給幫工買棺材是假惺惺的好意）。
劉荃知道唐占魁是被冤枉的。可他為了自己的政治清白，他什麼都不能說，只能眼睜睜地看著事態被無限擴大。
一來二去，唐占魁被判死刑，最終被拉赴刑場槍決。行刑之日，劉荃與張勵被派赴觀摩。當槍聲響起，無數死囚在泥土地上蠕動之時，張勵走上前拔出手槍一一處決尚還有一口氣的人，為了「培養新人」，他特地把手槍交給劉荃，讓他迫不得已處決掉一個形似唐占魁的死囚。
土改工作結束之後，劉荃在絕望中與張勵一同離開韓家坨，奔赴上海參加解放日報的工作。在那裡，他邂逅了上司戈珊，並沉溺於這段感情無法自拔。可另一方面他心裡還想著當時同在韓家坨工作、土改工作結束後前往山東工作的黃絹。回想起當初在韓家坨的恐怖經歷，倘若沒有黃絹，他早已崩潰。
三反運動開啟的時候，戈珊因為亂搞男女關係被批鬥，她拉出張勵為自己墊背，而刻意隱瞞傷她最深也是她最念念不忘的劉荃——劉荃對戈珊自然是非常感激的。他以為自己可以在三反運動中順利渡劫。直到有一天，他收到一封匿名舉報信，箭頭直指當時的上海市市長陳毅。在一陣驚慌中，劉荃把這封信交給了自己的上司崔平。崔平臉色大變，他認出這是自己老戰友趙楚的筆跡。思來想去，他決定出賣自己的老友，將匿名舉報信交給陳毅。幾天後，趙楚因「貪污罪」被拉赴刑場執行槍決。
劉荃並非局外人。因為趙楚的事和他有密切關聯，劉荃也被帶走展開調查。此時已來上海參加工作的黃絹得知這一消息之後非常焦急，為了營救劉荃，她特地去找戈珊想辦法。戈珊為她指了條明路——去找新華社社長申凱夫求助，或許有用。而申凱夫為了得到眼前這位年輕女孩，他利用職權提高了事情的嚴重性。最終劉荃被上綱上線，被判死刑。黃絹在悲痛中，選擇出賣自己成為申凱夫情婦以換取劉荃免於一死。
倖免於難的劉荃在灰心喪氣的絕望中參加了「抗美援朝」戰爭。在一次衝鋒中，他身負重傷，倒在彈坑裡。如果沒有南韓士兵的及時救助以及聯合國軍隊的悉心照料，恐怕劉荃早已像絕大多數年輕士兵一樣命喪現場。
在戰俘營中，戰俘面臨新的選擇——回大陸，還是以反共戰俘的身份前往台灣展開新的生活。在最後關頭，即使明知回國不會有好下場，劉荃還是毅然決然決定返回大陸。他的命是黃絹給的，他痛恨共產黨，可他知道，只要他這號人還在大陸，共產黨就永遠不得安寧。
我第一次讀《赤地之戀》還是在初中的暑假。記得那會兒語文老師強推張愛玲的小說，班中的同學多數不以為意，「有這個時間讀小說倒不如多背幾遍文言文考試拿高分」。我雖熱衷於記誦《世說新語》，但仍覺得若要做一個文學素養高的學生，只讀文言文容易造成理解上的脫軌，若要與時俱進是完全不夠的。在知乎閒逛時，有答主稱《赤地之戀》和《秧歌》因為書寫得太過真實，至今仍然不可在大陸出版，遂起好奇，最終通過一熱心書友的網盤分享讀到了皇冠的老版本。那會的我雖已知「土改」「三反」「五反」「四清」「反右」的來龍去脈，可仍改變不了對建制體系的無限幻想。直到近來重讀，對於一個已然經歷過三年疫情封控的人來講，《赤地之戀》書中所展已不再陌生。即使已經過去了70年，中國歷經了改革開放的新生，可他們的本色依然沒有改變。上綱上線、宣傳欺騙、對民意顯露出不屑且高高在上的優越感以及對於不同見解、不同思想的鎮壓與控制⋯一切都如往常一般發展。記得疫情封控中期，許多網民戲稱張愛玲是「先知」、是「潤學鼻祖」，聽似戲言，可細細品味，這當中又蘊含著多少無奈與惆悵？恐怕只有清醒的中國人能理解這種感受吧。
當然，中共是不會在意這兩本書在創作手法上的區別，在他們眼中，張在創作時對共產黨已然顯露出濃厚的鄙夷與反感態度，加之其尖銳地譏諷「偉大領袖毛主席」，這已是為「帝國主義者站台背書」，而對土改心存不滿的張愛玲是赤裸裸的「反革命分子」，是站在「人民」對立面的「壞分子」。張的舊友、作家柯靈亦認為《秧歌》和《赤地之戀》是壞作品，原因在於「內容虛假」，可事實真的如此嗎？
書的一開始，大學剛畢業的劉荃作為土改工作隊隊員前往韓家坨參加工作。他二十有餘，態度積極，可謂是年輕有為，政治前途光明。在卡車上，他碰見了同來參加土改工作的黃絹。似乎是一見鍾情，劉荃很想說些什麼，可當著眾人的面，思來想去他還是選擇把這份激情壓制下來，改由不經意瞥視的方式，觀察著眼前這位楚楚動人的「女同志」。
抵達韓家坨後，劉荃被安排進一戶中農人家暫住。剛一進屋，這家的女主人立刻主動獻殷勤，希望全家人能與劉荃建立起良好的關係。經過打聽，劉荃得知男主人名為唐占魁，解放前靠著全家人辛勤勞動攢出的積蓄負債買下了村裡幾戶人家的閒置田。共產黨來了之後，他們全家戰戰兢兢，生怕因為這幾塊田惹來麻煩。劉荃與這家人關係交好，尤其與這對夫婦的女兒二妞。二妞跟他打趣，為他做飯，為他洗衣，久而久之劉荃對二妞產生一定的好感。經過打聽，劉荃認為這家屬中農而非地主，沒有犯下「反人民」的罪狀，應當不會惹上什麼麻煩。
可他錯了。指導韓家坨土改工作的張勵是個地道的老左棍，他聯合村裡有權勢的流氓幹部，為徹底執行上層方針，他召集那些曾被唐占魁「欺壓」的「窮苦百姓」，指控唐占魁是徹頭徹尾的地主，犯下諸多「反人民罪行」（例如幫工無錢買棺材埋葬父親，唐占魁借錢給幫工買棺材是假惺惺的好意）。
劉荃知道唐占魁是被冤枉的。可他為了自己的政治清白，他什麼都不能說，只能眼睜睜地看著事態被無限擴大。
一來二去，唐占魁被判死刑，最終被拉赴刑場槍決。行刑之日，劉荃與張勵被派赴觀摩。當槍聲響起，無數死囚在泥土地上蠕動之時，張勵走上前拔出手槍一一處決尚還有一口氣的人，為了「培養新人」，他特地把手槍交給劉荃，讓他迫不得已處決掉一個形似唐占魁的死囚。
土改工作結束之後，劉荃在絕望中與張勵一同離開韓家坨，奔赴上海參加解放日報的工作。在那裡，他邂逅了上司戈珊，並沉溺於這段感情無法自拔。可另一方面他心裡還想著當時同在韓家坨工作、土改工作結束後前往山東工作的黃絹。回想起當初在韓家坨的恐怖經歷，倘若沒有黃絹，他早已崩潰。
三反運動開啟的時候，戈珊因為亂搞男女關係被批鬥，她拉出張勵為自己墊背，而刻意隱瞞傷她最深也是她最念念不忘的劉荃——劉荃對戈珊自然是非常感激的。他以為自己可以在三反運動中順利渡劫。直到有一天，他收到一封匿名舉報信，箭頭直指當時的上海市市長陳毅。在一陣驚慌中，劉荃把這封信交給了自己的上司崔平。崔平臉色大變，他認出這是自己老戰友趙楚的筆跡。思來想去，他決定出賣自己的老友，將匿名舉報信交給陳毅。幾天後，趙楚因「貪污罪」被拉赴刑場執行槍決。
劉荃並非局外人。因為趙楚的事和他有密切關聯，劉荃也被帶走展開調查。此時已來上海參加工作的黃絹得知這一消息之後非常焦急，為了營救劉荃，她特地去找戈珊想辦法。戈珊為她指了條明路——去找新華社社長申凱夫求助，或許有用。而申凱夫為了得到眼前這位年輕女孩，他利用職權提高了事情的嚴重性。最終劉荃被上綱上線，被判死刑。黃絹在悲痛中，選擇出賣自己成為申凱夫情婦以換取劉荃免於一死。
倖免於難的劉荃在灰心喪氣的絕望中參加了「抗美援朝」戰爭。在一次衝鋒中，他身負重傷，倒在彈坑裡。如果沒有南韓士兵的及時救助以及聯合國軍隊的悉心照料，恐怕劉荃早已像絕大多數年輕士兵一樣命喪現場。
在戰俘營中，戰俘面臨新的選擇——回大陸，還是以反共戰俘的身份前往台灣展開新的生活。在最後關頭，即使明知回國不會有好下場，劉荃還是毅然決然決定返回大陸。他的命是黃絹給的，他痛恨共產黨，可他知道，只要他這號人還在大陸，共產黨就永遠不得安寧。
我第一次讀《赤地之戀》還是在初中的暑假。記得那會兒語文老師強推張愛玲的小說，班中的同學多數不以為意，「有這個時間讀小說倒不如多背幾遍文言文考試拿高分」。我雖熱衷於記誦《世說新語》，但仍覺得若要做一個文學素養高的學生，只讀文言文容易造成理解上的脫軌，若要與時俱進是完全不夠的。在知乎閒逛時，有答主稱《赤地之戀》和《秧歌》因為書寫得太過真實，至今仍然不可在大陸出版，遂起好奇，最終通過一熱心書友的網盤分享讀到了皇冠的老版本。那會的我雖已知「土改」「三反」「五反」「四清」「反右」的來龍去脈，可仍改變不了對建制體系的無限幻想。直到近來重讀，對於一個已然經歷過三年疫情封控的人來講，《赤地之戀》書中所展已不再陌生。即使已經過去了70年，中國歷經了改革開放的新生，可他們的本色依然沒有改變。上綱上線、宣傳欺騙、對民意顯露出不屑且高高在上的優越感以及對於不同見解、不同思想的鎮壓與控制⋯一切都如往常一般發展。記得疫情封控中期，許多網民戲稱張愛玲是「先知」、是「潤學鼻祖」，聽似戲言，可細細品味，這當中又蘊含著多少無奈與惆悵？恐怕只有清醒的中國人能理解這種感受吧。
August 30, 2025
I’m about to get really nationalistic
October 6, 2025
felt almost dystopian
May 19, 2025
I took my time with this one, so much to unpack but genius work
April 24, 2022
Excellent book and much more impactful than Lust, Caution. Set against Mao's cultural revolution, the characters set out with idealistic aims of where China should be, but along the way become disillusioned by their own repression.
Incorporating elements of authority, friendships and love, this book not only gives a greater insight into the times that the Chinese youth faced during these difficult moments.
Incorporating elements of authority, friendships and love, this book not only gives a greater insight into the times that the Chinese youth faced during these difficult moments.
December 20, 2017
I was surprised to find that this 1956 book by a respected Chinese author was sponsored by the US "Information Service" - and doubly surprised in the light of the fact that I bought it from a prominent display in a large Shanghai bookstore this year. It certainly doesn't leave Mao's Land Reform movement smelling of roses, but on the other hand it doesn't read as simple propaganda. Yet if China is so full of thought control, I wouldn't have thought it would be available in China at all.
It seems to be more complex than simple anti-communist propaganda. I learned a lot.
In its complexity, this story of passion in support and betrayal of radical social and economic change resonates with the events unfolding locally and globally in 2017. The crude brutality of torture and killing of people fingered as anti-revolutionary is awful, and yet this is not a simple critique. Chang digs much deeper than Mao's injunction that "excesses are a necessary part of the revolutionary process" and also much deeper than simply condemning the communist revolution.
There is real passion for change, real awareness that it no longer fits our values for some people to be condemned to rural poverty just because of the births of their ancestors. There is also real grappling with the way revolutionary fervour can be deeply corrupted by people using it to settle personal scores and advance sectarian agendas. In the end, in this book, there is no completely solid ground from which to judge the complex and tragic process of change.
Along the way there are many useful indicators of what happens when things go wrong - familiar and relevant today in countries with leadership of the sort of Donald Trump or Jacob Zuma. One of the scary ones is about guilt by association - for example loved ones of somebody grabbed by the political police hastening the death of their beloved by making a noise about their unfair incarceration, and then themselves being arrested too.
It seems to be more complex than simple anti-communist propaganda. I learned a lot.
In its complexity, this story of passion in support and betrayal of radical social and economic change resonates with the events unfolding locally and globally in 2017. The crude brutality of torture and killing of people fingered as anti-revolutionary is awful, and yet this is not a simple critique. Chang digs much deeper than Mao's injunction that "excesses are a necessary part of the revolutionary process" and also much deeper than simply condemning the communist revolution.
There is real passion for change, real awareness that it no longer fits our values for some people to be condemned to rural poverty just because of the births of their ancestors. There is also real grappling with the way revolutionary fervour can be deeply corrupted by people using it to settle personal scores and advance sectarian agendas. In the end, in this book, there is no completely solid ground from which to judge the complex and tragic process of change.
Along the way there are many useful indicators of what happens when things go wrong - familiar and relevant today in countries with leadership of the sort of Donald Trump or Jacob Zuma. One of the scary ones is about guilt by association - for example loved ones of somebody grabbed by the political police hastening the death of their beloved by making a noise about their unfair incarceration, and then themselves being arrested too.
Read
January 29, 2018Ooooh! A masterful, sprawling epic somehow condensed into about 300 pages, Chang's depiction of an idealist Commissar (that's not quite the right term but here we go) trying to survive Land Reform, the 3 anti campaign and then the Korean war manages to be vast in scope and also beautiful line to line.Stylistically, Chang's particular genius lies in her depiction of erotic romance (I think gun to my head I might have enjoyed Love in a Fallen City, which deals with this subject primarily, slightly more), but there are some really fabulously clever plot choices here which allow for a depiction of the horrors of Mao's China while still allowing for some rough glimmer of optimism. Keep. Chang is a rare talent.
August 9, 2015
Very, very good, for the most part. The last 5 chapters, however, were a bit of a letdown. Chang created some interesting characters, and then allowed them to fade away. Liu was a bit of a cipher compared to characters like Ko Shan and Su Nan. I would have rather the story conclude with him working to figure out what happened to Su Nan, or avenge her, or whatever. The war scenes and POW storyline seemed to be part of an entirely different book (which would have been interesting as well, had they been expanded on).
January 18, 2016
Chang's more famous works like "The Golden Cangue" and "Love in a Fallen City" and "Lust, Caution" don't prepare the reader for the mastery of language she uses to illustrate life for ambitious young minds in China during the early Mao years. To prepare for her talents, it were best to read George Orwell. Carefully. Thanks to City Weekend Beijing for giving me a chance to publish a review (the book is not readily available in China, but that's just another reason we call it a country of contradictions):
http://www.cityweekend.com.cn/beijing...
http://www.cityweekend.com.cn/beijing...
June 19, 2017
(3.5 stars.)
While one could argue that the general storyline in Naked Earth flirts with cliché and predictability, there's no denying the stark power in its specifics. At the halfway point meet up of my book club, I predicted Chang’s book would end in tears and I wasn’t far off. If Naked Earth isn’t a home run example of poetic literature, it’s still an eye-opening history lesson and cautionary tale of leftist overreach that we’re still seeing the effects of 60+ years on in present day China.
While one could argue that the general storyline in Naked Earth flirts with cliché and predictability, there's no denying the stark power in its specifics. At the halfway point meet up of my book club, I predicted Chang’s book would end in tears and I wasn’t far off. If Naked Earth isn’t a home run example of poetic literature, it’s still an eye-opening history lesson and cautionary tale of leftist overreach that we’re still seeing the effects of 60+ years on in present day China.
July 5, 2015
Takes place in China. Mao's China is in transition. Young students volunteer to go the countryside to indoctrinate farmers about the governments plans for land reform. It's during this process that two young students fall in love. The government is in complete control of everyday life. They meet again in Shanghai where life is hectic and closed to any freedoms, and are watched and informed on. Insightful and tragic.
September 5, 2017
To me, Naked Earth is an example of realist literature. She brought the reality through fine details of what war was/is really like for those who have never experienced being in such a situation. The premise and style that depicted the daily culture and life is a familiar theme found in other Chinese/Japanese literature, which can feel cumbersome, at times. This book is great to read and to discuss with others on its parallels and relations to current societal times.
August 18, 2019
Absolutely beautiful and poetic writing in service of a heartbreakingly tragic story. The love story between two idealistic young students in Mao’s China quickly becomes a tale of sorrow, torture, and fear. It’s a gorgeous book in many respects. Chang’s detailed descriptions of people and landscapes feels deeply personal, but witnessing the violent abuse of power and the abject surrender of human decency over 500 pages proves hard going.
Want to read
October 20, 2015At p 25, worth reading, written by former China citizen and writer, for the U.S. gov't in the 50's, good to help understand China in the early days of the revolutionary gov't and various "leaps", and the language of survival. Reissued, and still important. Retuning to library, will re-request another time.
February 16, 2015
原來係反共書 LOL
July 7, 2015
A story that gives insight into China during the late 1940's and early 1950's. The story of one man and the impact the "new" society has on his life.
Want to read
October 9, 2015Reviewed by Open Letters Monthly
September 9, 2016
Very dry, not recommended. Too factual about life in China! Not a great time for China.
June 13, 2017
I'm into Chang's Naked Earth for its historical significance and relevance in deciphering the warning signs of authoritarianism in the present. The narrative arc leaves a bit to be desired, though.
November 26, 2018
This book was a recommendation from Jenn. I really enjoyed it once I got into it. Not knowing a lot about Chinese history, this book definitely helped to paint a picture of the times for me.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 61 reviews