Wu Jianren

Jianren Wu
Born	1866 Foshan, Guangdong, China
Died	1910 (aged 44)
Occupation	Writer

Wu Jianren (T: 吳趼人, S: 吴趼人, P: Wú Jiǎnrén, W: Wu Chien-jen; 1866–1910), also known as Wu Woyao (T: 吳沃堯, S: 吴沃尧, P: Wú Wòyáo, W: Wu Wo-yao) was a Chinese writer of the late Qing period.^[1] A native of Foshan, Guangdong province,^[2] he is known for several novels, namely Bizarre Happenings Eyewitnessed Over Two Decades and The Sea of Regret.^[3]

Writing style

Wu Jianren wrote novels for an audience who did not receive a classical education, and he used everyday vernacular speech in his works.^[4]

Wu Jianren recorded stories from newspapers that he could use as a source in his work within a notebook. Bao Tianxiao, another novelist who wrote an account of Wu Jianren's notebook, used this technique to write Shanghai Chunqiu (上海春秋; Shanghai records).^[5]

Works

• Bizarre Happenings Eyewitnessed Over Two Decades
• Sea of Regret
• Jiuming Qiyuan

References

• Des Forges, Alexander. "Anxiety, brand names, and wild chickens." In: Rojas, Carlos and Eileen Chow (editors). Rethinking Chinese Popular Culture: Cannibalizations of the Canon. Routledge, December 8, 2008. ISBN 020388664X, 9780203886649.
• Doleželová-Velingerová, Milena. "Chapter 38: Fiction from the End of the Empire to the Beginning of the Republic (1897–1916)" in: Mair, Victor H. (editor). The Columbia History of Chinese Literature. Columbia University Press, August 13, 2013. p. 697-731. ISBN 0231528515, 9780231528511.

Notes

1. Novels of the Ming and Qing Dynasties
2. Wu Jianren
3. "The sea of regret : two turn-of-the-century Chinese romantic novels (Book, 1995) [WorldCat.org]". worldcat.org. Retrieved 12 January 2014.
4. Doleželová-Velingerová, p. 724.
5. Des Forges, p. 44. "The description of the writing process recalls the intensive use of anecdotes in the construction of novels of the first decade of the century, especially Wu Jianren's Strange Events Eyewitnessed over the Last Two Decades."

External links

• Works by Jianren Wu at Project Gutenberg
• Works by Wo-Yao Wu at Project Gutenberg
• Works by or about Wu Jianren at Internet Archive