Recently, the authoritative theoretical journal in the world science fiction industry, *Science Fiction Studies*, published by DePaul University in the United States, released a special issue on China, focusing on articles by ten authors including Wu Yan, Song Mingwei, Liu Cixin, Fei Dao, and Han Song, comprehensively introducing the development of Chinese science fiction literature to the West. Currently, such large-scale translation and introduction of Chinese science fiction literature is still relatively rare.
The Chinese science fiction novels translated under the guidance of overseas scholar Song Mingwei were also published as a special issue by Hong Kong's *Translators' Collection*.
In the third issue of *People's Literature* in 2012, a special issue on science fiction was launched, featuring four science fiction stories by Liu Cixin. This is the first time in 30 years since the 1980s, when *Death Light on Coral Island* by Tong Enzheng was published, that *People's Literature* has paid renewed attention to science fiction.
According to incomplete statistics, Liu Cixin's representative work, the *Three-Body* trilogy, has sold 400,000 copies. Its English rights have been signed amidst intense competition from multiple publishers, negotiations for the Japanese edition have begun, and the Korean edition is in the translation stage. In 2013, *The Three-Body Problem* will be adapted into a film.
Over the past year, science fiction writers like Wu Yan participated in the World Science Fiction Convention in Chicago, while Liu Cixin and Han Song went to the United Kingdom to join literary and science fiction events there.
In 2012, the participation and scale of the "Global Chinese Science Fiction Nebula Awards" and the "Science Fiction Galaxy Awards" exceeded previous years, with multiple publishers engaging in science fiction publishing.
All these phenomena indicate that Chinese science fiction literature is on the rise and attracting global attention. Chinese people are becoming a dream-filled nation once again.
According to science fiction writer Han Song, science fiction literature has long been neglected in China. Traditionally, Chinese people focused more on immediate matters and valued real-life interpersonal relationships, showing little interest in otherworldly realities, the future, or the distant cosmos. However, with China's rise and the deepening influence of science and technology, this situation is changing. Science fiction, as a type of literature emerging after the Industrial Revolution, oriented toward the future and technology, is beginning to have an impact on Chinese society. This indicates that Chinese people are becoming a dream-filled nation once again, marking a gradual revival of their imagination and scientific innovation capacity.Chinese science fiction often gets interrupted by various social upheavals after one generation. For example, when Lu Xun, Liang Qichao, and others introduced science fiction to China in the late Qing Dynasty, it was soon interrupted by war. At that time, Chinese people did not even know if they would survive until the next day, let alone dream. In the 1950s, there was a brief boom in science fiction, which was quickly interrupted by the Cultural Revolution. In the late 1970s, as modernization was once again put on the agenda, science fiction became lively again, but in the early 1980s it was criticized as spiritual pollution. Today, China is experiencing the most sustained and long-lasting development phase in science fiction.
Chinese science fiction literature is enough to be comparable to top Western science fiction works.
Science historian Jiang Xiaoyuan divides science fiction into three levels: the first level is science, treating science fiction as part of popular science. The second level is literature, allowing science fiction novels to have a place in the literary world. The third level is philosophy, which involves profound reflection on the unlimited development and application of science and technology in future society, a unique mission exclusive to science fiction novels. Jiang Xiaoyuan believes that China's top three science fiction writers, Liu Cixin, Wang Jinkang, and Han Song, have all made breakthroughs in these three levels.
Yao Haijun, deputy editor of China's Science Fiction World magazine, believes that the outstanding works of Liu Cixin, Wang Jinkang, Han Song, and a younger generation of writers such as Chen Qiufan, Xia Jia, and Jiang Bo, are comparable to top Western science fiction works in both imagination and literary quality. Liu Cixin's grand and majestic 'Three-Body' series, Wang Jinkang's 'Be with Me,' full of human existential questioning, and Han Song's 'Red Ocean,' rich in imagery and critique, to my mind, have already surpassed many Western science fiction classics. In these works, one can see not only imaginative spectacles and profound reflections on civilization that were previously found only in foreign science fiction novels but also more visions of the future for our nation and country, which might be closer to reality than those in foreign works.
The works of Liu Cixin, Han Song, and others are long past the simplicity of science fiction novels of the 1980s. Their works often have grand structures, complex content, multiple layers of imagery, and sharp intellectual depth. Because of this, their works can break through the territory of traditional science fiction into a broader space.This breakthrough not only enhanced the influence of science fiction itself, but also added a rare touch of modernity to Chinese literature. Han Song believes that although a monumental work like "The Three-Body Problem" did not appear in Chinese science fiction literature in 2012, the overall achievements were quite high. The most notable events were the awards of the "Global Chinese Science Fiction Nebula Award" and the "Science Fiction Galaxy Award." The participation scope and scale of these two awards exceeded previous years, with veteran writers continuing to serve as mainstays, new writers and new works emerging frequently, and the creation style of Chinese science fiction literature becoming more diverse. Core science fiction novels with scientific and technological changes as the main content remain mainstream, while works reflecting China's long-standing civilization have also appeared, such as Gong Gulu's "Snow City" and Liu Yongqing's "The Ninth Station Poet."
Paying Greater Attention to the Future
According to Wu Yan, the editor for the Chinese feature in *Science Fiction Studies* and president of the World Chinese Science Fiction Association, the publication of the Chinese feature in *Science Fiction Studies*, compared to the special issue edited by Song Mingwei in *Translation Series*, has tremendous significance for the development of Chinese science fiction literature. It will allow the world to understand the development and characteristics of Chinese science fiction literature itself. "We hope that through these special issues we can provide the world with some new information. Chinese science fiction has its own ideas," he said. He believes the publication of this Chinese feature has a milestone significance for the international influence of Chinese science fiction.
Wu Yan has done substantial work in the creation and development of science fiction literary theory. The *Classic Translations of Western Science Fiction Literary Theory* edited by him is a massive project and represents another major contribution to science fiction literary theory following his *Outline of Science Fiction Literature*. It also marks that the comprehensive development capability of Chinese science fiction has reached a new level.
In the past year, original and translated science fiction books have emerged on a large scale. In addition to *Science Fiction World* continuing to publish the "Masters Series" and "Cornerstone Series," more publishers and cultural companies have started to venture into science fiction publishing. For example, Du Ke Publishing has released Asimov's "Foundation" series and the "Hyperion" series, which have been very successful in the market.Baihua Literature and Art Publishing House has released a series of science fiction books, Tsinghua University has launched the 'Shuimu Science Fiction' series discussions, Hope Publishing House has released the Singularity Science Fiction series, People's Posts and Telecommunications Publishing House has published a 10-volume collection of works by famous Chinese science fiction writers, and Century Wenjing, Electronics Industry Press, New Star Press, and Jieli Publishing House have also published science fiction books.
People's interest in Chinese science fiction is rapidly rising. During the Nebula Awards ceremony, Liu Cixin reminded people to pay greater attention to the future, because the frontier of modern science and technology is becoming very different from our previous traditional technologies, detaching from people's daily environmental habits and everyday experiences. Many fields of science and technology are approaching breakthroughs, and any key breakthrough can completely change our lives. The imminent changes will no longer be like before; they may be even more science fictional than science fiction itself, and both society and individuals need to prepare early.
(People's Daily Overseas Edition, March 15, 2013, Page 10)