Review: Faces in the Crowd: 36 Extraordinary Tales of Tianjin' by Feng Jicai , trans. by Olivia Milburn

I've been trying to read more and more Chinese literature while I live in Shanghai and it has really enriched my experience here. Many of them were set in Shanghai, so I decided to branch out when I saw Faces in the Crowd, which has given me a fascinating insight into a city I'm yet to visit: Tianjin. Thanks to Sinoist Books and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Pub. Date: 11/2/2019
Publisher: Alain Charles Asia Publishing; Sinoist Books

In a series of beautifully illustrated short stories, author and artist Feng Jicai introduces some weird and wonderful characters from the port city of Tianjin in northeast China where he was born and raised. They include a miracle doctor, a master chicken-thief, an ill-mannered mynah bird, a smooth-talking restaurateur and an educated gangster.

In the gateway city, only the best stories survive

The port of Tianjin is where the ancient Chinese empire met the sea. The turn of the 20th century was a tumultuous time for the city, with the Qing dynasty on its last legs and the Boxers unleashing their ill-fated rebellion against the European trading concessions that had colonised its streets. 

For Tianjin’s inhabitants, daily life carried on. These hardy people were shaped by the bitter earth from which they sprang, and every once in a while, there would emerge someone so remarkable that a new name would be inducted into Tianjin’s hall of fame.From a miracle doctor to an ill-mannered mynah bird, they came from every walk of life and in all shapes and sizes. Together, their stories make up the rich tapestry of a city that the modern world has washed away...

Born in Tianjin in 1942, Feng Jicai is a contemporary author, artist and cultural scholar who rose to prominence as a pioneer of China's Scar Literature movement that emerged after the Cultural Revolution. He has published almost a hundred literary works in China and more than forty internationally. He is proficient in both Chinese and western artistic techniques, and his artwork has been exhibited in China, Japan, the US, Singapore and Austria. He has had a major influence on contemporary Chinese society with his work on the Project to Save Chinese Folk Cultural Heritages and his roles as honorary member of the Literature and Arts Association, honorary president of the China Folk Literature and Art Association and adviser to the State Council, among others. He is also dean, professor and PhD supervisor at the Feng Jicai Institute of Literature and Art, Tianjin University.

Faces in the Crowd presents the reader with 36 short tales, taken from the streets of Tianjin of the 19th and 20th century. This collection of stories feels like walking down the streets of old-school Tianjin, dropping in here or there to pick up a story. It's like sitting down in a restaurant or tea house and just listening to the conversations going on all around you. There are stories about food, business, reputation, disaster, and just stories about good old fun! Part of Feng Jicai's work is in preserving the old stories and traditions of China as it roars its way towards the future, and there's stories are a key part of that. Getting to know an enormous city like Tianjin through its people and its history is fascinating and Jicai's tone throughout makes it feel like a gentle, friendly visit.

My favourite story probably came towards the end and was called 'The Yellow Lotus Divine Matriarch'. It was a story about the Boxer Uprising, and especially about the Red Lanterns, the women's fighting groups, as the village women weren't allowed to join the men's groups. There is something very mythical and powerful about this story, the women and their leader, the titular Yellow Lotus Divine Matriarch'. It is also a story about resistance and the magic these women said to hold. Some of these stories, like 'The Swallow, Li San', felt very fable-like. Most of the stories, except three, are about men which was a little bit of a disappointment. However, there is still plenty to enjoy as Jicai excels at drawing character profiles despite the brevity of the stories. These stories made me curious to read his larger works and explore all he has to offer as both a writer and an artist.

Each story is prefaced by a small drawing, done by Jicai himself. He explains how after writing the stories the characters were still with him and that drawing them was like a final farewell. The drawings are simply but incredibly evocative and I really enjoyed revisiting the drawings after each story and rediscover it all anew. Jicai is unsentimental and direct in his stories, there is no pretense at trying to make anything appear better than it truly is. These stories are humorous and offer a whole new insight into what Tianjin was like in the previous centuries. It is so important to get these kind of insights and this kind of enjoyment into other kind of cultures and countries.

I give this collection...

5 Universes!

Faces in the Crowd is a brilliant collection of short stories, introducing the reader to the Tianjin of yore. Combining his stories with his drawings, Feng Jicai almost recreates this Tianjin for his readers and makes them hungry for more from them.