From the Southern Weekend (in Chinese), translated through the Press Interpreter by Josh Dominick:
Spring Festival has just passed and the critic Wu Liang has sent one of his new works, Shunshou-ji*, to the author Chen Cun. In the e-mail, he makes it clear that this essay is in response to The Context of Spirit** that appeared in the first edition of this year’s Shanghai Literature, saying it “put on airs, was chaotic and stereotypical,” at the same time criticising “Shanghai Literature” for “finding people to praise this essay.” Wu Liang decided to put this call to arms on the internet, thinking that publishing, reprinting and interviewing in traditional paper-based media was pass√©, being slow and complicated. Chen Cun put Wu Liang’s Shunshou-ji, along with Zhang Wei’s The Context of Spirit, on his personal discussion board, Xiaozhong Chayuan, immediately capturing attention and initiating fierce debate among readers. The debate soon spread to the well-known cultural sites “China Century” and “Cultural Vanguard,” and quickly throughout the rest of the internet.
