Week 7: The Exiles of the Crystal Boys:

Pai Hsien-yung’s Taipei (2) [Oct 24th, 2013]

Instructor:Richard Rong-bin Chen, PhD.

Adjunct Assistant Professor,Graduate Institute of Taiwan Literature, NTU

Taiwan Fiction and Postwar Urban Experience

Unless noted, the course materials are licensed under Creative Commons Unless noted, the course materials are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Taiwan (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0) (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0)

Reconciliation between Father and Son• A-qing vs. Father (a discharged brigade

commander from Sichuan)• Wang Kuilong vs. Wang Shangde• Fu Wei vs. Papa Fu• ---------------------------------------------• How is it possible to make peace with the

dead?• A-qing vs. Papa Fu• Wang Kuilong vs. Papa Fu• Papa Fu vs. Wang Kuilong

• A-qing’s self-reflection at home (2.30).• I was his [the father’s] final hope as he entered

his twilight years. It was his lifelong dream that one day I’d become a respected officer and vindicate him, wash away the shame of his being captured by the enemy and discharged from the army. When I was expelled from school in disgrace, this dream went up in smoke. It’s not hard to appreciate the anger and resentment that must have filled his heart. Occasionally I wondered if he still held out a thread of hope that I might reject my sinful past (p. 177)

Source: Pai, Hsien-yung.(1995) . Howard Goldblatt(Eds.), Crystal boys : a novel . San Francisco : Gay Sunshine Press

• and come home to start anew. . . . I had to get out of there before Father came home so I wouldn’t run into him. But before I left I went over to the room Buddy and I had shared and walked around for a moment. Buddy’s bed was gone, leaving only a single bamboo cot in the room. My straw mat and pillow were still there. My school uniform, my clothes, my shoes and socks were all folded neatly on the pillow. Even my school supplies were untouched. (p. 177-8)

Source: Pai, Hsien-yung.(1995) . Howard Goldblatt(Eds.), Crystal boys : a novel . San Francisco : Gay Sunshine Press

• The dialogue between Papa Fu and Dragon Prince, who cared very much about whether his father had left some words about him.

• “I know he wouldn’t mentioned my name. His feelings for me had died.” Wang Kuilong shook his head spiritedly.

• “Kuilong, you’re taking it all out on your father, but I wonder if you’ve ever thought about how much he suffered on your account.” He was getting angry.

• “Of course I have!” . . . . (p. 257) Source: Pai, Hsien-yung.(1995) . Howard Goldblatt(Eds.), Crystal boys : a novel . San Francisco : Gay Sunshine Press

• “That’s easy to say!” Papa Fu said loudly, with a quiver in his voice. “You all think you can pay yours fathers back for the pain you caused them, don’t you? You’re right, Kuilong, your father never mentioned you to me . . . But I know he suffered as much as you did. I know that a lot of bad things happened to you during your years out of the country, but do you really think you were the only one? Your father was here sharing your load. No matter how great your agony, his was greater!” . . .

• “He couldn’t bear to see you . . . Not even his eyes were closed.” (p. 257)

• After this (3.18), Fu was able to tell the story of his own son (3.19), whose last phone call were not answered by Papa Fu.

Source: Pai, Hsien-yung.(1995) . Howard Goldblatt(Eds.), Crystal boys : a novel . San Francisco : Gay Sunshine Press

The Chronicle of Crystal Boys• 1958: Fu Wei committed suicide; Phoenix Boy taken

in by Grandpa Guo.• 1960: Phoenix Boy stayed with Papa Fu for one

night before killed by Dragon Prince; Dragon Prince fled to New York; A-qing’s mother left home.

• April to May, 1970: Buddy died from pneumonia; A-qing was taken in by Grandpa Guo after being expelled from both school and home.

• August, 1970: Dragon Prince came back from New York.

• From August 1970 to February 1971: the gay community expelled from the New Park after the police shakedown; the grand opening of Cozy Nest. The bar was forced to be closed after the coverage of Shanghai Evening News. Papa Fu died. Little Jade arrived Japan on around December 20th, 1970.

• On Chinese New Year’s Eve, 1971: A-qing met Wang Kuilong and Luo Ping, a teenage homeless. He took Luo back to his lodging in Dragon cave.

All cities are to some extent alike?

• Taipei / New Park / Cozy Nest [] on Lane 125, Nanking East Rd.

• New York / Central Park / Happy Valley on 72nd St., Manhattan

• Tokyo / Gyoen [the Imperial Garden] / Paulownia Chamber in Kabuki-cho, Shinjuku

The Exterior Structure of the City

What are the differences?• The neighborhood of Cozy Nest is described as a

hustle-and-bustle place filled with nightlife and neon light:

• “There were mainly taverns and restaurants on Lane 125 of Nanking East Road. Phoenix City, a Cantonese restaurant, was located at the entrance to the lane…Next door was Plum Garden, a Japanese restaurant with dark red paper lanterns as big as watermelons hanging above the doorway. Next came a Korean barbecue called Aililang, which was directly opposite the Golden Angel, a Western restaurant…” (p.204)

Source: Pai, Hsien-yung.(1995) . Howard Goldblatt(Eds.), Crystal boys : a novel . San Francisco : Gay Sunshine Press

• Wang told A-qing that he used to be a bartender in a bar named Happy Valley on 72nd Street in Manhattan, New York.

• “. . . The place was well know, but it was dive. We had black customers, Puerto Ricans, and every imaginable kind of white person. There were a few Asians, not many.”

• “Are there bars like ours in America?” I asked him. I knew there were a lot in Tokyo. Little Jade had told me that.

• “Lots and lots of them, more than you can count.” Wang Kuilong laughed and sighed. “I’ll bet there are nearly a hundred in New York along. (p. 251)

Source: Pai, Hsien-yung.(1995) . Howard Goldblatt(Eds.), Crystal boys : a novel . San Francisco : Gay Sunshine Press

• Some are pretty fancy, where the rich and famous go. Doctors, lawyers, in their suits and ties. Some are near colleges, where students hang out. Then there are some strange bars where the customers all wear leather jackets and ride motorcycles. They’re called S&M bars.”

• . . . “Happy Valley was kind of special. Most of the customers were drifters, and a lot of them were runaway kids. For them, Happy Valley was a place that offered them temporary shelter. Most of the kids were drug addicts or had V.D. . . .” (p. 251) Source: Pai, Hsien-yung.(1995) . Howard Goldblatt(Eds.),

Crystal boys : a novel . San Francisco : Gay Sunshine Press

• Tokyo is described in the letter written by Little Jade to A-qing.

• “Tokyo can really get you excited, and confuse you, and scare the wits out of you! I walked around the Ginza yesterday, and there were so many cars and people and tall buildings I felt like jumping in the air and shouting. The Ginza’s like our Westgate, but it’s a hundred times bigger, and as far as style is concerned there’s no comparison. The Japanese are all rich! They dress great and everybody has a car. Talk about luxury, I love it! There are huge department stores all over the place . . . ” (p. 311)

Source: Pai, Hsien-yung.(1995) . Howard Goldblatt(Eds.), Crystal boys : a novel . San Francisco : Gay Sunshine Press

• They say there are hundreds of “Cozy Nests” in Tokyo. Twelve in Shinjuku’s Kabuki-cho alone. Tokyo’s birds of youth are really something. They flit up and down the streets without worrying about the police. In the bars they dance with each other and kiss, anything they feel like. There’s a New Park in Shinjuku, too, called Gyoen. It’s at least ten times bigger than New Park, and the birds of youth that hang out there play a lot wilder game of hide-and-seek than we do. A-qing, compared to these Japanese birds, we’re real goodie-goodies. Paulownia Chamber is two or three times as big as the Cozy Nest, and the lighting is all avant-garde. It’s packed on the weekends, when they have dancing. (p. 318)Source: Pai, Hsien-yung.(1995) . Howard Goldblatt(Eds.),

Crystal boys : a novel . San Francisco : Gay Sunshine Press

New Park vs. Cozy NestWest vs. East/Old vs. New

Art and life vs. Commercialism• He [the Master Artist] missed our old home, miss

the lotus pond that had been picked bare of flowers, missed the intertwining branches of the green coral trees, missed those shining, lust-filled eyes, like fireflies darting back and forth in the darkness. The Master Artist said that our old nest had a primitive quality, that it was filled with wild, raw life forces, that it was a mysterious, frightening underworld that made your soul take flight. For him, only our dark kingdom was stimulating (p. 224) Source: Pai, Hsien-yung.(1995) . Howard Goldblatt(Eds.),

Crystal boys : a novel . San Francisco : Gay Sunshine Press

• Enough. Our new, man-made nest was too common, too peaceful. He didn’t like it. The gentle music, the soft lights, the clinking glasses, the new faces. He was critical of the college students, finding them spoiled, shallow, and full of themselves. . . . What he longed for were the wild kids who fled to the park from Huaxi Street, from Sanchong City, and from the stormy fishing port of Hengchun. The were the true source of his art. (p. 224) Source: Pai, Hsien-yung.(1995) . Howard Goldblatt(Eds.),

Crystal boys : a novel . San Francisco : Gay Sunshine Press

American influences on Taiwan• 1950: the Korean War broke out• 1950-1965: the US Aid to Taiwan• 1963-1973: the American involvement with the

Vietnamese War (Vietnamization in 1968)• From 1965 to 1971, 400000 American soldiers

spent their vacations in Taiwan.• Works dealing with the same theme: • “June Roses” (1967) by Chen Ying-chen• “Young Widow” (1974) by Huang Chun-ming.

Japanese influences on Taiwan:• 1895-1945 (The Treaty of Shimonoseki)• The Japanese were deported back to Japan after

1945, but in Crystal Boys we see its control over Taiwan reappeared in the form of capital flow: that is, in the form of international corporate such as the Seijyo Pharmaceutical Company on Songjiang Street, and we also know that it had at least one factory in Taoyuan County, a suburban area of Taipei.

• The job vacancies in both the company and factory would definitely draw their required human resources from the southern part of Taiwan, endangering the traditional agricultural development.

• In Crystal Boys, Pai uses the motif of “music” to represent the pervasiveness of American culture in Taiwan, for example, jazz can be heard in the bars in Jinzhou St., the Barbarian Coffee Shop plays the songs of Beatles and Tom Jones.

• And A-qing’s lover, Mr. Yu, turns on the radio to listen to the broadcast of US military station, which is know as ICRT now (FM 100.7).

• Don’t forget, there’s also the hybrid baby “Little Johnny.”

The Urban-suburban Division:

• The township of Sanchong []: • Little Jade’s mother; A-qing’s mother.• 2.7: A-qing’s encounter with Zhao Ying.• Depiction of Sanchong. • “The sky above Sanchong City, on the other

side of the river, was black with the smoke of burning coal, blurring the rooftops and give the place the appearance of a huge, filthy dump.” (p. 65) Source: Pai, Hsien-yung.(1995) . Howard Goldblatt(Eds.),

Crystal boys : a novel . San Francisco : Gay Sunshine Press

Sanchong as a traditional town filled with life• By a little after six in the evening, the steets and

lanes of Sanchong City were crowded with people from all over converging on the local feasts. The host families carried the food and drink outside, under the arcades. Up and down the lanes, table after table piled high with slabs of fatty pork quivering on the plates, like so many mounds of meat, the crisp brown skin glistening with oil, like it was sweating in the heat. . . . A several-hundred-catty boar spread (p. 137) Source: Pai, Hsien-yung.(1995) . Howard Goldblatt(Eds.),

Crystal boys : a novel . San Francisco : Gay Sunshine Press

• Out contentedly on the sacrificial rack . . . Most of the food had been prepared the day before and was now being laid out on the tables, platter after platter of food giving off meaty smells that blended with the heavy smoke of incense candles. Not a breath of wind in the air; the black pall of smoke that hung over Sanchong City pressed down, covering the people’s sweaty faces with a fine layer of soot. But that didn’t affect their appetites. They ate with gusto and guzzled glass after glass of wine. Jubilation reigned. (p. 137-8)

Source: Pai, Hsien-yung.(1995) . Howard Goldblatt(Eds.), Crystal boys : a novel . San Francisco : Gay Sunshine Press

This work is from “Ministry of Culture, National Repository of Cultural Heritage” but the original source is from 行政院新聞局http://nrch.cca.gov.tw/ccahome/search/search_meta.jsp?xml_id=0004965011&dofile=cca100069-hp-0002660071-0001-i.jpg It is used subject to the fair use doctrine of the Taiwan Copyright Act Article 52 and 65 by GET, and 文化部著作權聲明

This work is from “Ministry of Culture, National Repository of Cultural Heritage” but the original source is from 行政院新聞局http://nrch.cca.gov.tw/ccahome/search/search_meta.jsp?xml_id=0004959623&dofile=cca100069-hp-0002130012-0001-i.jpg It is used subject to the fair use doctrine of the Taiwan Copyright Act Article 52 and 65 by GET, and 文化部著作權聲明

This work is from “Ministry of Culture, National Repository of Cultural Heritage” but the original source is from 陳振巖http://nrch.cca.gov.tw/ccahome/search/search_meta.jsp?xml_id=0005783102 It is used subject to the fair use doctrine of the Taiwan Copyright Act Article 52 and 65 by GET, and 文化部著作權聲明

• The township of Jhonghe: • Old Zhou (a dye shop owner).• The Catholic Divine Light Orphanage (which

raised Phoenix Boy).• Taoyuan County:• The pharmaceutical plant of Seijyo Company.• A-qing’s grandmother lived in Longtan

Township.

The Interior Structure of Taipei• The slums: • A-qing’s family lived in the military compound

on Longjiang Street [].• A-qing’s mother lived in an old two-story

cement building on Kenan Street (known as Guo-hsing Road now) near the old airport [ 19 ].

• The neighborhood around Dragon Mountai Temple (Longshan Temple) [ 22], as portrayed by “The Call of Wildness,” one of the masterpieces of the Master Artist.

• The area around Huaxi street used to be famous for a gathering place of brothels and night markets.

• “It was a huge oil portrait, three feet wide by six feet high, whose background was hazy ghetto district, complete with canopied stalls, criss-crossing lanes, and a temple with upturned eaves. It looked like the Dragon Mountain Temple district around Huaxi street at dusk, the temple’s eaves bathed in a blood-red sunset that turned the filthy houses and lanes deep red.” (p. 224)

Wikipedia Bernard Gagnon

The Haves: the East District• Lord Sheng’s two-story mansion on the

Eight Virtues Road. []• Mr. Zhang’s apartment in Guangwu

Village on Dunhua South Road. [13]• Mr. Yu’s third-story apartment on

Xinsheng South South Road, Lane 145. [15]• Grandpa Guo’s Youth Photo Studio on sec.

2, Changchun Road. []

The Powerful People from China

• Nanking used to be the capital of China• Pai’s family lived at 127 Songjiang Road• Papa Fu: intersection of Songjiang Road and

Nanking East Road. [11]• The Wang’s: sec. 3, Nanking East Road. [12]

The have-nots: the West District• Yaotai Hotel in Yunhuan (established in 1908). []• The China Bazaar (1961-1992) on Chunghua Road. [

16 ]• The Jinghua hotel on Sun Yat-sen North Road. [ 20 ]• Dragon Mountain Temple is described as a

neighborhood with a nearby brothel district on Huaxi Street and many thugs, one of whom was Phoenix Boy’s father (2.10) [ 22 ].

Westgate (Ximending) [ 16 ]

• The Barbarian Coffee Shop on Emei Street.

• Chief Yang’s café, Taoyuan Spring, on Taoyuan Street.

• Today Department Store (2.23) and South Seas Department Store (3.6).

• Silver Chariot.

A-qing’s Logdings

• Jinzhou Street. [] • Dragon Cave (Dalongdong). [ 21 ]

Copyright DeclarationPage Work Licensing Author/Source

3

I was his [the father’s] final hope …thread of hope that I might reject my sinful past

Pai, Hsien-yung.(1995) . Crystal boysHoward Goldblatt(Eds.)Crystal boys : a novel . (p.177). San Francisco : Gay Sunshine Press

4

and come home to start anew. . . . I had to … Even my school supplies were untouched.

Pai, Hsien-yung.(1995) . Crystal boysHoward Goldblatt(Eds.)Crystal boys : a novel . (pp.177-8). San Francisco : Gay Sunshine Press

5

know …head spiritedly. Kuilong, you’re… account.” He was getting angry.“Of course I have!”

Pai, Hsien-yung.(1995) . Crystal boysHoward Goldblatt(Eds.)Crystal boys : a novel . (p.257). San Francisco : Gay Sunshine Press

6

That’s easy …your agony, his was greater!” . . .“He couldn’t bear to . . . his eyes were closed.

Pai, Hsien-yung.(1995) . Crystal boysHoward Goldblatt(Eds.)Crystal boys : a novel . (p.38). San Francisco : Gay Sunshine Press

10

There were mainly

taverns and restaurants

on …Golden Angel, a

Western restaurant…

Pai, Hsien-yung.(1995) . Crystal boysHoward Goldblatt(Eds.)Crystal boys : a novel . (p.204). San Francisco : Gay Sunshine Press

11 “. . . The place …not many.” “Are there …told me that.” “Lots and lots of …York along. ”

Pai, Hsien-yung.(1995) . Crystal boysHoward Goldblatt(Eds.)Crystal boys : a novel . (p.251). San Francisco : Gay Sunshine Press

Copyright DeclarationPage Work Licensing Author/Source

12

” Some are pretty … called S&M bars.” “Happy Valley was kind … or had V.D. . .”

Pai, Hsien-yung.(1995) . Crystal boysHoward Goldblatt(Eds.)Crystal boys : a novel . (p.251). San Francisco : Gay Sunshine Press

13

Tokyo can really get you excited, …department stores all over the place . . .

Pai, Hsien-yung.(1995) . Crystal boysHoward Goldblatt(Eds.)Crystal boys : a novel . (p.311). San Francisco : Gay Sunshine Press

14

They say there are

hundreds of “Cozy

Nests…weekends, when

they have dancing.

Pai, Hsien-yung.(1995) . Crystal boysHoward Goldblatt(Eds.)Crystal boys : a novel . (p.318). San Francisco : Gay Sunshine Press

15He [the Master Artist]

missed our old …

kingdom was stimulating

Pai, Hsien-yung.(1995) . Crystal boysHoward Goldblatt(Eds.)Crystal boys : a novel . (p.224). San Francisco : Gay Sunshine Press

16Enough. Our new, man

made nest … were the

true source of his art.

Pai, Hsien-yung.(1995) . Crystal boysHoward Goldblatt(Eds.)Crystal boys : a novel . (p.224). San Francisco : Gay Sunshine Press

20 The sky above Sanchong

City, …appearance of a

huge, filthy dump.”

Pai, Hsien-yung.(1995) . Crystal boysHoward Goldblatt(Eds.)Crystal boys : a novel . (p.38). San Francisco : Gay Sunshine Press

Copyright DeclarationPage Work Licensing Author/Source

21By a little after six in the … several-hundred-catty boar spread

Pai, Hsien-yung.(1995) . Crystal boysHoward Goldblatt(Eds.)Crystal boys : a novel . (p.137). San Francisco : Gay Sunshine Press

22

Out contentedly on the sacrificial rack . . . Most … glass of wine. Jubilation reigned.

Pai, Hsien-yung.(1995) . Crystal boysHoward Goldblatt(Eds.)Crystal boys : a novel . (pp.137-8). San Francisco : Gay Sunshine Press

23

This work is from “Ministry of Culture, National Repository of Cultural Heritage” but the original source is from 行政院新聞局(http://nrch.cca.gov.tw/ccahome/search/search_meta.jsp?xml_id=0004965011&dofile=cca100069-hp-0002660071-0001-i.jpg) It is used subject to the fair use doctrine of the Taiwan Copyright Act Article 52 and 65 by GET, and 文化部著作權聲明

24

This work is from “Ministry of Culture, National Repository of Cultural Heritage” but the original source is from 行政院新聞局(http://nrch.cca.gov.tw/ccahome/search/search_meta.jsp?xml_id=0004959623&dofile=cca100069-hp-0002130012-0001-i.jpg) It is used subject to the fair use doctrine of the Taiwan Copyright Act Article 52 and 65 by GET, and 文化部著作權聲明

25

This work is from “Ministry of Culture, National Repository of Cultural Heritage” but the original source is from 陳振巖(http://nrch.cca.gov.tw/ccahome/search/search_meta.jsp?xml_id=0005783102) It is used subject to the fair use doctrine of the Taiwan Copyright Act Article 52 and 65 by GET, and 文化部著作權聲明

28

It was a huge oil portrait,

three feet wide by …

turned the filthy houses

and lanes deep red.

Pai, Hsien-yung.(1995) . Crystal boysHoward Goldblatt(Eds.)Crystal boys : a novel . (p.224). San Francisco : Gay Sunshine Press

Copyright DeclarationPage Work Licensing Author/Source

29Wikipedia Bernard Gagnonhttp://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Longshan_Temple,_Taipei_01.jpg2013/10/22 visited