Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie (Book Analysis): Detailed Summary, Analysis and Reading Guide

DAI SIJIE

CHINESE NOVELIST AND FILMMAKER

Born in Fujian Province (China) in 1954.

Notable works:

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress (2000), novel

Mr. Muo’s Travelling Couch (2003), novel

The Chinese Botanist’s Daughters (2006), film

Dai Sijie is a Chinese writer and filmmaker who has lived in France since 1984. He enrolled at Peking University to study History of Art at the age of 22, just as the Cultural Revolution (Chinese political movement, 1966-1976) was coming to an end. He received a scholarship which enabled him to continue his studies in France at the IDHEC (Institut des hautes études cinématographiques, Institute for Advanced Cinematographic Studies) in Paris. His first feature film, China, My Sorrow (1989), won the Jean Vigo Prize, and his later film The Chinese Botanist’s Daughters (2006) also received critical acclaim.

His debut novel, Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, was published in 2000. In 2003, he was awarded the Prix Femina for Mr. Muo’s Travelling Couch. His most recent published works are Once on a Moonless Night (2007) and L’acrobatie aérienne de Confucius (The Aerial Acrobatics of Confucius, 2009).

BALZAC AND THE LITTLE CHINESE SEAMSTRESS

CUTTING TO THE HEART OF THE CHINESE CULTURAL REVOLUTION

Genre: novel

Reference edition: Sijie, D. (2002) Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress. Trans. Rilke, I. London: Vintage Books.

1st edition: 2000

Themes: Chinese Cultural Revolution, reading, love, friendship

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress is considered Dai Sijie’s masterpiece. The book has won three prestigious French literary awards: the Prix Edmée de La Rochefoucauld, the Prix Relay du roman d’évasion and the Academie française’s Prix Roland de Jouvenel.

During the Cultural Revolution, which took place when Sijie was a teenager, his parents were imprisoned and he was sent to a reeducation camp in the mountains. This experience inspired him to