The Writing of Nan Ya - a 25 Year Evolution

I include this brief note on the evolution of witing this novel. Many works in my canon have been with me for some time; however, this one has been in the works for over 25 years, since 1974.

When I graduated with my Master's Degree in Chinese History and started doctoral work at Columbia University, I wanted to finish my Master's dissertation in High Style. I had passionately embraced a study of the Reign of the Emperor Kao-tsung of the Sung Dynasty, the first Emperor of the Southern Sung branch of that nearly 300 year ruling house. I was fascinated by the period, the turmoil, the weaknesses and strengths. It also amazed me that perhaps no other period in Chinese History, before or after was so "Modern" in the rennaisance sense of the word. I was determined to "humanize" the events and present it in some way to a Western public, who for the most part, was completely unfamiliar with 12th Century China.

From these thoughts came a series of sketches, false starts, short fiction, long incomplete efforts - evolving into a massive undertaking, which by the year 2000, I sensed would never be completed satisfactorily. I had well over a thousand pages of draft material and was scarcely half way through the first part. A writer's dilemma indeed!

The main fictional elements derived from a short novel I penned (not a good one I might add) about Li K'ai-men, a scholar official investigating a murder at court. It was sort of a Miss Marple mystery in brocade and kingfisher feathers. The only thing fascinating in the work was the name of the title character and the title of the work - "Vagrant Hollow." Also important to this evolution were some short fiction on Chinese themes - including one of how the Chinese handled the lack of Rain (ceremonially) and another about the poet Su Tung-po and his exile on Hai-nan island. When and where these items blended into the overall story I do not recall - but their material was good and available.

In 2000, I decided to try my hand at playwrighting. I turned to the voluminous, never ending Novel and decided to subset some material. This resulted in "Fishing With Birds." Many people read this play and liked it. It had new elements in it, including the gay sub-theme and the emergence of a narrator - K'u Ko-ling. I was so delighted with the results, I decided to whack out four more plays from the material - "The Ninth Son", "Ming-shou", "What We Know of Radishes", and "The House of Green Waters." I was pleased - but wanted to reach a larger audience.

My passion for the works of J. R. R. Tolkien and W.S. Gilbert, motivated me to return to the Novel format with the material - and using the tight focus of the "plays" as a guideline, I crafted Nan Ya. I was very careful to pay homage to Tolkien - applying applicability principles by paying attention to detail - but creating a "one-off" world from the real Chinese thing - and a vague relationship for the readers. My themes (and Tolkien's) had always been in accord (except the homosexuality); and crafting the little "translation from an old text" springboard allowed me to keep K'u Ko-ling and expand the main theme (of which he is so bound up). For Gilbert & Sullivan afficianados, the work teams with subtle and not so suble references to the Savoy works.

It is with great satisfaction, good or bad, that I lay this material aside in its final form and move on to the next set. It was a long and difficult birth - a birth which relied on my own evolution and change of circumstances to complete.

I hope you enjoy the work and are enriched by it. I would enjoy and welcome feedback from anyone who wishes to express it. If you like what you read here, please refer people to the site. Although I would love to earn a living by my writing (a fond dream which could be possible), these works are meant to be read.

E. C. Patterson, MA
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