North and South Poles

Mu ShiyingMay 2017

4.0

Word count: 11K words
Chapters: 6

Summary

Held in his arms, it was astonishingly light, no effort at all. The child's head grew bigger day by day. It only cried dry, without tears. Its eyes were hidden deep in their sockets, watching its father. He was anxious at heart. He listened to its crying—each day it seemed more feeble than the last. He himself had not slept well for several nights.

Editor's review

North and South Pole showcases Mu Shiying's distinctive craft in navigating between urban narrative and writing of the lower classes. From the surviving fragment, the narration stays close to a father holding a child: the child is "extremely light," yet its head grows "bigger day by day," crying dryly without tears, eyes hidden deep in their sockets watching its dad; the father listens to the ever-wearying cry, and himself has gone several nights without proper sleep. In just a few lines, poverty, illness, exhaustion, and silent anxiety layer upon layer. Mu Shiying does not rely on sentimentality but uses minimal action and sensory detail to create a sense of oppression, letting readers feel the weight of existence through the paradoxes of "light" and "big," "dry crying" and "no tears." This book is suited to readers interested in modern urban literature, narratives of the lower classes, and the craft of the short story. While reading, note how the narrative perspective moves between father and child, and how the recurring "day by day" forms a rhythm of time and decline.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in Mu Shiying and modern urban literature
Readers who enjoy the narrative density and linguistic experimentation of short stories
Readers concerned with writing about lower-class life and themes of family hardship
Students who need to study Mu Shiying's works in modern literature courses

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer warm, bright stories with happy endings
Readers who find urban lower-class hardship themes oppressive
Readers expecting a long, coherent plot rather than fragmentary impressions

Reading tips

First read the fragment through, circling all words related to "light," "big," "weary," and "sleep," and observe how they accumulate into existential pressure.
Note the transmission of glances between father and child, and consider why the narrator chooses to have the child "watch its dad" rather than have the father look directly at the child.
You may read it alongside Mu Shiying's other urban-themed works, comparing similarities and differences in language rhythm and atmosphere.
After reading, try to summarize in one sentence the "unspoken anxiety" in the fragment, then look back at how the text makes it self-evident.

版权信息
第一节
第二节
第三节
第四节
第五节

FAQ

Why does the passage in North and South Pole repeatedly write "day by day"?

"Bigger day by day" and "more weary day by day" create a sense of time that is both progressive and cyclical: the child's growth and the weakening of its cry occur simultaneously, while the father's exhaustion also accumulates. The repetition is not meant to emphasize quantity but to make readers feel the slow advance of days in consumption, heightening the oppressive atmosphere of the text.

Can I read this book directly without having read other works by Mu Shiying?

Yes. The fragment in this book stands on its own; the language is dense but the threads are concentrated, and first-time readers can begin with sensory details and character relationships. If you want to understand Mu Shiying's urban writing more deeply, you can then expand to reading his contemporaries' works.

What reading settings is this passage suitable for?

It is suitable for close reading in a quiet environment and also as classroom material for linguistic analysis of short stories. Because the fragment's mood is rather oppressive, it is not recommended as light bedtime reading; if used for writing practice, focus on analyzing how it creates tension with minimal action and sensory words.

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About the author

Mu Shiying Author · Chinese · 1912–1940

Mu Shiying (1912–1940) was a native of Cixi, Zhejiang, and a modern Chinese novelist as well as a leading figure of the New Sensationist school. Writing under the pen names Fayang and Anonymous, he graduated from Guanghua University and became known for his depictions of urban life in Shanghai, earning the title of "master of Chinese New Sensationism." His works often focus on the emotional and existential conditions of urban men and women, with a跳跃, image-dense style that uses sound, color, and light to capture the rhythm and sense of disillusionment in the modern city. His representative works include North and South, The Cemetery, The Bust of the Platinum Woman, and The Virgin's Feelings, along with celebrated pieces such as "Shanghai Foxtrot," "Five Men in a Nightclub," and "Pierrot." The collection here contains twenty-nine of his works, spanning social fiction, fine fiction, classic works, and prose miscellany.