Chuan lu feng chao ji 川路風潮記 [A Record of Agitation and Unrest During the Movement to Protect the Railroad in Sichuan]

31 folding leaves. Small 8vo, orig. wrappers (somewhat soiled & frayed), orig. stitching. [Beijing]: Jing hua ri bao she 京話日報社, n.d.




First edition of this novel on an early phase of the Chinese Republican revolution of 1911. The setting of this novel is the movement to oppose the nationalization of the projected railway between Chengdu in Sichuan province and Wuhan in Hubei. After decades of building railways by granting concessions to foreign firms, the local government and elite in Sichuan raised money to fund their own railway project in central China. When the central government in Beijing in 1911 proposed to nationalize the railway project and raise money from foreign banks, people in Sichuan revolted against what they saw as another act of the Qing government giving in to foreign interests. The revolt contributed to the later uprisings that toppled the Manchu dynasty early in the following year. Our book fictionalizes these events, focusing on the character of Duanfang (1861-1911), a Manchu official sent to Sichuan.


The novel was written by Xu Jiandan - signed simply as "Jiandan" in our book - who was a frequent writer of fiction for the many vernacular-language newspapers that had sprung up in the Beijing-Tianjin area in the late Qing period.


Our edition does not carry a date of publication, merely the imprint "Society of the Beijing Speech Daily" (Jinghua ribao she). This newspaper is known to have been published at least until 1923, which might perhaps be taken as a terminus ante quem for the publication of our novel.


Good copy. We find no copy in WorldCat.



References


Zhou Jianshe 周建設 et al. Xu Jiandan zuopin 徐劍膽作品. Beijing: Shoudu shifan daxue chubanshe, 2014.