Sandalwood Death

Abstract

A novel five years in the making, Sandalwood Death is a tour de force historical novel set in the tumultuous heights of the Boxer Rebellion at the turn of the twentieth century. Via a set of interlocking narratives centered on the family of the imperial executioner Zhao Jia in Mo Yan's home county of Gao Mi (Shandong Province), Mo Yan chronicles the collision of different strains of Chinese culture and geopolitical pressures that eventually destroyed China's last dynasty. Sandalwood Death is peppered with important historical figures like Yuan Shikai, who nearly succeeded in restoring the dynastic system in China (as self-appointed emperor) in 1915, and the “six gentleman of the 100 days' reform,” who were condemned to death by the Empress Dowager. Even in the context of contemporary Chinese fiction's penchant for violence, Mo Yan's methodical dissection of China's body politic stands out for its lovingly detailed prose bristling with his characteristic blend of folk idioms and magical realism. The narrative culminates in a striking meditation on violence, power, pain, and the philosophical and spiritual dimensions of our bodies as both the site of subjectivity and social values. In Howard Goldblatt's expert hands, Sandalwood Death reveals itself to be a leading contender in Chinese and world literature and true descendent of Lu Xun's “Diary of a Madman.”