Wang Xiaoyi and the literature of titillation

The short stories by Wang Xiaoyi in the 1930s were derided by critics as lowbrow erotica. I argue that his works have greater depth than hitherto recognized, and that they dealt with more serious social issues as well.

Using a variety of pen names, Wang Xiaoyi wrote several novels and countless short stories for the Shanghai tabloids from the mid-1920s until the establishment of the People’s Republic. Despite being one of the most prolific writers of the Republican era,his work has been almost entirely neglected. This study looks at a few of his works with a focus on the representation of sexuality. Wang Xiaoyi’s writings often feature characters motivated by sexual desire, and he was criticized by some as a pornographer at the time. His fiction is indeed often bawdy or risqué, but I argue that it falls short of pornography or erotica since the narratives eschew descriptions of genitalia and physical acts in favor of innuendo and allusions that mostly aim to be humorous. I also discuss the degree to which Wang Xiaoyi’s liberal portrayals of sexual relationships challenged traditional virtues and show that his interests spanned far wider than hiscritics held at the time.