Chinese Stories

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31760, 17 August 1968, Page 4

Chinese Stories

The Adventures of Li Chi. A Modern Chinese Legend In which a humble member of the working classes overcomes the party establishment By Humphrey Evans. Dent 222 pp.

The full title of this book explains it pretty well—a legend it is, in style and form, with only the slightest trace of truth as its basis. Modern it is too, with a background of Chinese communism which is authentic. The stories have been assembled and written down by Humphrey Evans, whose earlier books in this series are "Escape from Red China” and “The Thought Revolution.'’ This collection of current stories about a mythical Chinese peasant artist does add to our knowledge of the political scene as intended, but it would be a pity to think of his adventures as a purely political protest for Li Chi is a universal and timeless character, with more than a little in common with Don Quixote, Tristram Shandy and a hundred other hilarious figures who transcend their time and setting. Li Chi was invented by the Chinese to lighten the monotony of life in modern China, and the stories about him have been circulated so widely that many people believe in their literal truth.

His mouth utters the daring and defiant words which many a comrade would love to speak. He carries out the most subtle coups against the petty bureaucrats, and over their puzzled bodies he clambers to greater and greater eminence himself, without ever having to commit himself to the Party, which he shuns. Incorrigibly devious in his dealings, he can turn the blackest situation to his own advantage. Each episode, though brief, is so intricately developed that it would be impossible to summarise accurately. The book can hardly fail to amuse even the most sophisticated reader. One note <rf warning: do not read “The Adventure* of Li Chi” in the bath, as the black dye of the cover ia far from stable.