"Moon, Madness, and Mutilation in Eileen Chang's English Translation of The Golden Cangue," in Tamkang Review, Vol. XIX, No. 1-4, August, 1988-Summer 1989, pp. 547-57.

In the excerpt below, the critics examine recurring motifs in Chang's English translation of The Golden Cangue, noting in particular variations from the original Chinese version of the novella.

In Eileen Chang's novelette, The Golden Cangue, motifs of moon, madness, and mutilation dominate the story of the progressive destruction of Ch'i-ch'iao and her family. These motifs are developed by means of point of view, stylistics, theme, and images and symbols. Although the story was originally written in Chinese by Eileen Chang (Ai-Ling Chang), a Shanghai native, the author was her own translator of the English version. Chang is an anomally in that few authors are capable of translating their own works into another language. Having studied at the University of Hong Kong, and later...