Mu Shiying’s Shanghai Foxtrot in Translation Courtesy of Andrew Field

Though rarely read these days Mu Shiying was one of China’s most interesting modern and modernist writers. His style – highly staccato with references to foreign brands and rooted in the dance hall culture of inter-war Shanghai – always stuck in my mind when thinking and writing about that period. However, Mu was, inevitably, not favoured by the Maoists and also was assassinated as a member of the collaborationist puppet government of China during the war. Mu came back to me as Andrew Field covers him in his excellent history of Shanghai nightlife culture between the wars Shanghai’s Dancing World: Cabaret Culture and Urban Politics 1919-1954.

Andrew also translated one of My Shiying’s best known works Shanghai Foxtrot from 1934. You can read his excellent translation of Mu’s excellent short story here in the Shanghai Journal online.