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Mandarin Ducks and Butterflies

The Novel and Its Forms

The Mandarin Ducks and Butterflies school, also called Butterflies fiction, was a popular genre of Chinese fiction in the first half of the 20th century, especially in the 1910s and 1920s.

Facts
Place of Origin
Shanghai, China 1
Notable Example
Fate in Tears and Laughter by Zhang Henshui (1930) 1
Defining Trait
Romantic love symbolism plus scandals and high crimes as favorite subjects 1
In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Mandarin Ducks and Butterflies - Wikipedia
  • History
    Mandarin Ducks and Butterflies fiction was widely consumed by urban readers and became especially prominent in Shanghai, which had a booming publishing industry during this time.
  • History, representative works
    Zhang Henshui's 1930 novel Fate in Tears and Laughter is a representative work of this school
  • Introduction, name and themes
    are traditional symbols of romantic love, but the genre encompassed more than romance stories
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