Acknowledgements
Without the help of a great number of different individuals and institutions, my book could not be completed and published, and I would like to express my indebtedness to all of them.
First of all, with sincere respect and my deepest gratitude, my profoundest thanks goes to my doctoral supervisor, Michel Hockx, for his suggestions, advice, and inspiration in helping me to strengthen my arguments through our always fruitful discussions. The early ideas for my book were sharpened by his insightful and critical questions, which set me on the path to writing the first draft. Most importantly, throughout the years I spent writing my book, he read and commented on each chapter thoroughly, and through his constructive criticism and constant encouragement, I was stimulated to strengthen my arguments and have confidence in my research.
I am also greatly indebted to Huang Ziping for his inspiration on the historical formation of New Fiction discourse in relation to the emergence of Chinese modernity and the shift in epistemology. I would also like to express my heart-felt thanks to William Tay for his continuous support of my work on Chinese print culture, as well as his guidance as I made my way along my career path.
Working at the University of Hong Kong gave me an excellent academic milieu to complete this book. I am greatly appreciative of the critical comments and strong support for my research from Wu Cuncun, Stephen Chu Yiu-Wai, Richard VanNess Simmons, Lin Pei-Yin, Yang Binbin, Tse Yiu Kay, Tang Pui Ling, Loretta Kim and John D. Wong, all of whom also guided me during every challenge in my life. Thanks also to Vivien Wei Yan, Chen Liangliang, and Maggie Leung Ming Fai for their very kind support, and to my research assistant, Wong Shing Kit, for his unwavering help and attention to detail.
In my work at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Lingnan University, I greatly benefited from my former colleagues’ assistance. I would like to express my gratitude to Chu Hung-lam, Han Xiaorong, Chak Chi-shing, Xu Zidong, Mary Wong Shuk-han, Si Tou Sau-ieng, Chan Wai-ying and Wicky Tse Wai Kit for guiding my academic development during my time in both departments. My thanks also to the late Professor Joseph Lau Shiu-ming for his continuous support of my research. His insightful and novel way of understanding literature has enlightened me in many ways. I would like to extend my thanks to Brian Tsui Kai Hin for his critical questions and reading of the early drafts of some chapters, and to Tam King-fai for taking the time and effort to polish the complete manuscript.
Studying at the School of Oriental and African Studies has been one of the most extraordinary experiences of my life. I am greatly indebted to Bernhard Fuehrer for supporting my travel to National Taiwan University, to Rossella Ferrari for comments and advice on my writing, and to Andrew H-B Lo, Tian Yuan Tan, and Xiaoning Lu for their challenging questions during my upgrade examination and departmental conference. Moreover, I would like to express my deepest thanks to James St. André for his critical comments, which have further strengthened my arguments in various aspects. I also learned much from the conversations that I shared with my London schoolmates, Paul Bevan and Kang Yin-chen. Thank you for listening and allowing me to express my ideas and arguments.
At various stages of my research, many scholars have kindly offered their generous help. I am grateful to Zhu Guohua and Wang Jiajun for their encouragement and suggestions when I presented the early version of Chapter Three in Shanghai, and to Mei Chia-Ling and Chen Meng-chun for their inspiration and support during my stay in Taiwan. I would like to thank the late Professor Douwe Fokkema, who allowed me to read his book, Perfect Worlds: Utopian Fiction in China and the West, before its publication. Thanks Hon Tze-ki for his insightful comments on the conceptual framework of the early draft. I want to also thank Ng Wun Kin for sharing his knowledge of Confucian Classics with me. During my fieldwork in Shanghai, Beijing, and Heidelberg, I was grateful for the hospitality offered by Yuan Jin, Li Nian, Liu Yun, and Zhang Jing at Fudan University; Chen Pingyuan, Xia Xiaohong and Lee Ka Wai at Peking University; and Sun Liying and Anne Labitzky-Wagner at the Institut für Sinologie, Heidelberg, my thanks to all of you. They not only provided every assistance and kindness during my stay but also contributed insightful comments, brilliant ideas, and questions about my arguments.
Different organisations and institutions have funded my research, for which I am profoundly grateful. The Universities’ China Committee in London provided me with great support in presenting the initial results of Chapter Three in Shanghai, where I received many useful comments. The European Association of Chinese Studies and the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation funded my travel to the University of Heidelberg. Moreover, fieldwork funding from the University of London and School of Oriental and African Studies provided me with precious time and support to access materials in Shanghai and Beijing. Finally, my thanks to the Visiting Fellowship from National Taiwan University and the Ministry of Education of the Republic of China, which supported my visit to Taiwan. I cannot imagine what I would have done without their financial support, as it gave me the ability to access amazing original materials to work with.
The “Database for Modern Chinese Thought and Literature” (1830–1930) at National Chengchi University and the “Digital Library from Meiji Era” from the National Diet Library deserve my sincere thanks for providing detailed information for my research. For providing me with great support during my writing, my thanks to Wai-hing Tse, the librarian at the School of Oriental and African Studies, the libraries at Fudan University, the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Baptist University, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, National Taiwan University, Shanghai Library, British Library, the National Library of China, and the National Central Library in Taiwan.
I would like to express my gratefulness to Shanghai Library’s (the Institute of Scientific and Technological Information of Shanghai) historical documentation centre for giving me permission to reprint their copy of the journal New Fiction and The Journal of New Citizen. I would also like to thank the following publishers for granting me permission to include the early versions of some previously published chapters in this book. The two case studies in Chapter Three were published as a journal article and a book chapter, respectively: “The Public Sphere and Literary Journals: An Investigation of the Discursive Formation of New Fiction’s Utopian Imagination in Late Qing.” Comparative Literature Studies 51.4 (2014): 557–586 (used with permission from the Pennsylvania State University Press, DOI:
Last but not least, this book could not have been completed without the loving support of my family. I am so fortunate that I have been able to choose to devote my life to the things that I love to do most. My deepest gratitude is given to my mother, Esther Yeung Wai Hing, my late grandmother, Choi Yuet Wah, and last, but never least, my husband, Tse Chi Ming, and my son, Tse Wan Shun, who was born during the final stage of writing this book. My family has enlightened my life in many ways, and I could not have achieved all that I have accomplished so far without them.