A Study of Eileen Chang's “Lust, Caution”--Mentioning also the Relevant Historical Records and Ang Lee's Screen Version of the Story
Resource
人文藝術, 4, 041-076
Journal
人文藝術
Journal Issue
4
Pages
041-076
Date Issued
2007-11
Date
2007-11
Author(s)
Kuo, Y.W.
Abstract
Eileen Chang published “Lust, Caution” in 1977. It’s widely rumored that the story has something to do with Chingwei Wang’s puppet regime in Nanking and its Headquaters of the secret agents in Shanghai during the war of Resistance Against Japan (1937-1945). One clue is her short marriage with Lancheng Hu, deputy minister of Ministry of Propaganda in Wang’s regime. The other is KMT’s female secret agent Pingru Cheng’s story. She failed to assassinate Muotsun Ting, the head of Wang’s intelligence agency, and was killed by Ting instead. Does the story of “Lust, Caution” have any substantial evidence? What is the source of the story? Why should Eileen Chang make a refutation? What’s the difference among those documents? These questions are discussed in the first section of this paper—“the story and the history”. How should Chang ask of her readers? Do they really understand her painstaking efforts? Does Chang use any special technique of expression in “Lust, Caution”? Do the commentators hit the key points? Do they really understand her sublime words with profound meaning? These questions are deeply discussed in the second section “ the story and the comment”. In 2007, Ang Lee adapted the story for performance on the screen. He tries to read between the lines and seek some specific images from the story. He tries to put in his imagination of the Hong Kong and Shanghai in the 1940’s. He tries to present the polarity of human nature in the film. And those are the contents of the third section of this paper— “the story and the movie”.
Subjects
張愛玲
李安
汪政權
特工
虐戀
Eileen Chang
Ang Lee
Wang's puppet regime
Secret agent
Sadomasochism
Type
journal article