Tragic Color of History of a Chinese Muslim Family

Chen Lingli

College of Chinese Language and Literature, China West Normal University, Nanchong, Sichuan, 637009, China

Keywords: Religion, Character Features, Tragic Color, Love.

Abstract: History of a Chinese Muslim Family written by Huo Da is like an unreachable climax drawing people’s

admiration. Besides, it is also like an abyss which makes people sad or lost into thought. Due to its theme of

minority, this book descripts the living conditions of ordinary family from the perspective of religion. It

mainly focuses on the fate as well as the rise and fall of a Muslim family. From the historical background,

the study analyzed the character personalities and tragic love story, thus further interpreting the tragedy of

this work.

1 INTRODUCTION

History of a Chinese Muslim Family mainly

describes the rise and fall of three generations of

Muslim family with more than fifty million words.

In this book, the emotion is expressed from different

perspectives, so the connotation is very rich. In

terms of the Muslim era in China, there are

hardships and romantic times with people’s

confusion in pursuing the essence of life. This book

emphatically creates the vivid and live images of

Han Xinyue, Han Ziqi, Liang Bingyu, etc.

Furthermore, the suffering of the subjects in that

environment is also presented. The tragic color of

History of a Chinese Muslim Family is further

analyzed as follows.

2 SOCIAL BACKGROUND OF

HISTORY OF A CHINESE

MUSLIM FAMILY

History of a Chinese Muslim Family was composited

by a female writer Huo Da, whose works always

have the characters of Hui. The innovation of this

literary work owes much to her deep consideration

of Muslim culture. This book has not only rich tragic

plots, but also the exploration and sentiment for

literary spirit tragedy under the oppression of tragic

subconscious. All these achieved the unique status

of History of a Chinese Muslim Family in Chinese

literary history.

This work describes the love and hate, individual

fate and life sufferings of people during thousands

years of history of Hui. Besides, it also manifests the

collision and integration between Chinese and

Islamic culture, the history between Han and Hui, as

well as their conflict, sadness and emotions in

history. Unlike other authors, Huo Da did not outline

a narrative plot under large social background, just

describing several Hui people in a small social

environment. Their joy, pain, and frustrated life have

reflected people’s tragic fate under such social

environment. Meanwhile, this book also

demonstrates the peace and war, the confusion and

complexity of human nature, the impermanence of

fate, as well as the collision between old concepts

and new ideas. Being the sweethearts, they still

cannot share joys and sorrows but to cheat and

betray the other side, bringing the feeling of guilt to

readers. Living in an unimaginable condition, the

characters in this book are bound to have complex

and unimaginable destinies. And all these characters

have life-like images in Huo Da’s description. Han

and Liang’s family both had remarkable

achievements for several generations, but with bad

endings. With such difficulties, the struggle for

destiny is failed. For example, Han Xinyue, Liang

Yiqing, Han Ziqi had their pursuit of life, yet cannot

get rid of their fate. Although the love between Han

and Liang is admirable, it is manifested full of

frustration. Therefore, this book is about a tragic and

beautiful love story with sigh and helpless in that

era.

The achievement of History of a Chinese Muslim

Family lies in Huo Da’s high skills. The silent

struggle or regret, the unimaginable life, as well as

352

Lingli C.

Tragic Color of History of a Chinese Muslim Family.

DOI: 10.5220/0006026003520354

In Proceedings of the Information Science and Management Engineering III (ISME 2015), pages 352-354

ISBN: 978-989-758-163-2

the passing of beautiful love, are all shown in this

book. Through these surface things, people can feel

author’s confusion about past hardships and the way

to the future. Such feelings of author are mainly

from her profound experience of social life. On this

basis, author formed her tragic thought, which is the

life experience of Hui people for the hardship in life

for millions of years. It is the passion and frustration

in life that makes Hui people generate grief feelings.

Huo Da is a person of Hui and lives in Hui, where

there is a collision between national beliefs and

social ideas. Thus, the tragic psychology is vividly

presented in her works, most of which are her worry

for the development of Hui. Tragedy will certainly

bring psychological depression and pain to people,

which is the pain of body rather than spiritual

sufferings. Besides the

sufferings and depressions in

life, Huo Da still enjoys a happy life for her unique

experience of crucifixion. The author has

represented tragedy incisively and vividly by her

deep understanding of tragic spirit, thus making the

work full of tragic colors. The tragic color is

reflected not only in characters, but also in the final

unexpected outcome—a tragedy rather than a happy

ending. So the author has got rid of the bound of

traditional concepts by abandoning the previous

ideas of reunion.

It is the sublimation from lofty tragic spirit to the

thinking of life, as well as the urgent desire to

change social situation, that create this excellent

work. Tragedy is not the imagination of author, but

her perception in society. Such tragedy often appears

in the lives of Muslim people. Therefore, author’s

presentation of her national tragedy can explore the

national culture better. Through description, Huo Da

has demonstrated the importance of culture for a

nation. People try their best to improve the national

situation, thus casting off the bands of destiny. As

the reality is cruel and helpless, they can do nothing

but face the pressure of life and society.

Furthermore, every attempt brings only failure.

History of a Chinese Muslim Family shows a sad but

beautiful love story. And the literary thought in this

book has been sublimated through the precipitation

and activation of tragedy.

3 TRAGIC TRAITS OF

CHARACTER PERSONALITY

IN HISTORY OF A CHINESE

MUSLIM FAMILY

The characters in Huo Da’s writings all have the

ideal and pursuit of life. In the cause, they keep

going and never give up. Besides, they regard the

difficulties and hardships in life as a gain and life

experience, facing these crucifixions with pleasure.

Drifting from childhood, Han Ziqi lacks the

warmth of family, so he knew early about the

hardships of social life. Later, Han learned craft

from Liang Yiqing who later drove Han to the right

path. Han devoted into carving jade, thus enriching

his life belief. Even though driven by hatred, Han

endured humiliation to complete the arduous task of

reviving the Qizhenzhai (a jade shop). Such task

changed his destiny, even bringing himself a title of

"Jade King." But it had not sustained too long. With

the invasion of Japan, his career was reduced to

ashes in the war. Then he went to British Isles for a

new beginning, but he still cannot stage a comeback.

After the foundation of New China, Han returned to

homeland, without the combatant spirit in career.

Then he entered the declining period and wandered

all day. The arrival of Chinese Cultural Revolution

brought much misery to him, including the

intolerable sufferings on both body and mind.

Through this attack, Han completely lost the

confidence in life. Because of the turbulent times,

Han lost his courage to pursue and placed all the

hopes on the hands of his daughter Han Xinyue,

hoping her to complete the unfinished business.

With the fighting spirit and the courage when facing

hardships, Han Xinyue insisted her ideal and pursuit.

This spirit brought her luck, so she went to the long-

cherished college. Although with these brilliant

achievements, she had to submit to fate rather than

has a bright future.

In the work of History of a Chinese Muslim

Family, the fate of different generations of both Han

and Liang is constantly changeable. A profound

truth can be drawn from that: if it is predestined, one

cannot change anything even he tries his best to

pursue the ideal. Han Ziqi’s fate is capricious, with

ups and downs. He has own dignity as well as

stubborn personality. Due to his efforts for the ideal,

he obtained a splendid life, while his failure was the

result of social turbulence. Compared with love, the

failure of cause was the least. It was love that gave

him a deadly strike. Two beautiful women, the

sisters, appeared in Han’s life. Marrying the elder

sister was not from his sincere heart, but from his

gratitude psychology as well as the aspiration to

revitalize family career of Liang. While Han Ziqi

fell in love with Liang Bingyu in England, he felt

Liang Bingyu is the ideal wife. Under the concept of

equality between men and women, Han’s immoral

love was the true meaning of love. After returning to

Tragic Color of History of a Chinese Muslim Family

353

Tragic Color of History of a Chinese Muslim Family

353

China, Han was immersed in the inner torment and

gossip around, becoming delirious every day.

Having fallen into despair, Han placed the hope on

his daughter Han Xinyue, who became the spiritual

pillar of him. However, this was the beginning of

another tragedy. Not too long, Han took part in his

daughter's funeral. Through this complicated plot of

ups and downs, author of this book better present the

tragic color.

With a miserable fate, Han Ziqi had to bear

heavy mental stress from life. Finally, Han ended his

tragic life for the great burden. After the death of

Han, author did not stop at here, but further

presented the miserable fate of characters from

spiritual level by unveiling the real identity—Han

nationality—of Han. By revealing this secret,

readers may absorb in deep thought about the

characters in this work. What makes such a tragic

life to the hero? It is himself, the impact and

contradiction between Han and Hui, the belief of

Muslims or the turbulence society. Readers may

hold that the tragic fate has ended after the death of

Han Ziqi. But the author don’t think so, she further

presented another tragedy by her excellent causality.

As the same in reality, the end of one thing is just

the beginning of another. Another tragedy is the

miserable fate of Han’s wife, from which readers

can see a vivid tragedy of the Muslims. A wife lives

under self-deceiving just to keep the faith and spirit

of her husband. By presenting the tragic life of

Han’s wife, the tragic color of this work become

more concentrated. Limited by Han culture and her

own belief, she struggled to maintain husband's

image rooted in her mind, even living in the cruel

society. Is this not the beginning of another tragedy?

In this work, tragic plots are connected one by

another in a causal cycle. And the tragedy of

characters is completely presented through author’s

description of characters’ temperamental

characteristics. Hence, readers cannot but gasp in

admiration about author’s precise grasp and

description of character personality.

In History of a Chinese Muslim Family, Liang

Junbi, the eldest daughter of Liang Yiqing, is also an

important tragic character and the most disputed and

published one. What is the tragedy of Liang Junbi’s

life? And what kind of character makes it? In Huo

Da’s writings, Liang Junbi had experienced the

fluctuation of relationships, as well as sufferings of

both life and spirit. However, she still stuck to her

yearn for life and loyalty for love. Due to the

cultural inheritance and Muslim’s faith, Liang Junbi

had to endure too much in the collision of reality of

destiny. However, her tragedy is mainly caused by

her godliness for Muslim culture. In this tragedy,

readers can find a competent Muslims woman filled

with hope for life while facing the inequity of fate.

Readers surely admire such positive image. Besides,

they should think it is the spiritual driving force of

nationality and religious belief that make Liang

Junbi live with conflicts. On one hand, she lived

optimistically when faced with suffering. On the

other hand, she destroyed her daughter's happy life

and marriage by her narrow national idea, thus

conversely destroying her own lives and emotions.

The enormous pressure of secularity and religion

heavily demoralized her pursuit of faithful love, thus

starting her tragic life. Even frustrated, she did not

give up love, thus becoming the executioner and the

victim of the cultural belief. With these

contradictory features, a different image of Muslim

women is shown. Behind the tragic fate, the chief

cause of that is worth thinking deeply by people

today.

4 CONCLUSIONS

History of a Chinese Muslim Family written by Huo

Da presents a kind of magnificent but tragic cultural

belief. How could Muslims live under different

cultures, nations and religion? How can reality and

inner conflict create the tragic life? This book will

arouse people’s thinking and exploring to the culture

of Hui. Life is always inconstant. Who can live

without any influence? What we should choose in

reality, accepting the fate or revolting it? It is worthy

of our weighing.

REFERENCES

Zhang Shuangang, Brief Description to Tragic Beauty of

History of a Chinese Muslim Family, Literary Review,

2008 (5): 36-37.

Han Kun, Liu Bin, Interpretation of Hoda’s History of a

Chinese Muslim Family, Modern Chinese (Literature

Research), 2011(1): 23-26.

Xu Jia, Sad Whisper and Glancing Back: Interpretation of

tragic theme in History of a Chinese Muslim Family,

Modern Languages (literature Research), 2011 (6): 55-

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