Reconfiguring History through Literature: Cultural Memory and Mo Yan’s Historical Play Our Jing Ke

Abstract

In a departure from his usual work, Mo Yan’s (1955–) historical play Our Jing Ke ( Women de Jing Ke) reinterprets the story of the assassin Jing Ke (d. 227 BCE). The play adopts most of its characters and plot points from previous accounts, particularly The Grand Scribe’s Records ( Shiji), and the basic structure follows the cultural memory of Jing Ke. However, there are major innovations in Mo Yan’s interpretation of the story, including the title of the play; the investigation of the theme of fame; the creation of a new major character, Lady Yan; the use of colloquial, humorous, and information-dense language; and the adoption of modernist literary devices to reinterpret the motivation behind the assassination. Through these innovations, Mo Yan contests the traditional reception of the lore of Jing Ke and adds new elements to its cultural memory. Simultaneously, Mo Yan relates this popular story to contemporary Chinese social reality and concerns. To better understand both the retrospective revisions and prospective efforts to reach contemporary audiences, this article places Our Jing Ke in the context of the long reception and cultural memory of Jing Ke as well as in the context of Mo Yan’s life experience and other writings.