Love is in the Eyre: China turns to classic English novel to teach teens about romance

When teenagers went back to school in China earlier this month, one book on their new mandatory reading list stood out: the 19th century English novel “Jane Eyre.”

The literary classic, originally considered a trailblazing tale of female empowerment, might seem a surprising choice in a country where textbooks are tightly curated by the state to ensure ideological conformity.

But Beijing sees another message in Charlotte Brontë’s work –– the value of finding true love.

The story presents a counterbalance to the “superficial notions about appearance and wealth” of the social media age, according to the state-run Beijing Daily newspaper.

In recent years, online novels and micro dramas featuring outlandish plots of wealth flaunting, wronged lovers, brooding billionaires and ill-fated mistresses plotting revenge have become mainstream entertainment . And that’s attracted the attention of China’s censors.

In June, the broadcasting regulator launched a campaign to crack down on “harmful and lowbrow” content seen as promoting “distorted” views on relationships and marriage.

But reading the story of Jane Eyre –– an orphan girl who finds her independence while suffering a series of hardships and eventually falls in love with her wealthy employer –– will help China’s 14-year-olds “develop sounder values,” said Beijing Daily.

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“When children are first beginning to experience romantic feelings and are still naive and inexperienced, it is a crucial stage for developing a healthy character,” it said.

The coming-of-age story has been wildly popular in China since it first arrived in the country in 1925 and has been translated, published and adapted into theatre and screen productions countless times. A British film even made its way to Chinese theatres in 1979, following the country’s turbulent Cultural Revolution.

Jane Eyre –– who famously says to her future husband “do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong” –– has long been seen as an anti-repression heroine by the working class in China. And the book has long been accepted by China’s ruling communist party.

But its inclusion in the curriculum is striking at a time when other forms of feminist discussion and activism have increasingly come under scrutiny in China.

And some parents have questioned whether modern day Chinese youths who have been raised in a relatively comfortable environment, could understand or relate to the deep and complicated love story portrayed in the novel.

One parent said that her son had asked whether reading Jane Eyre was “teaching girls in (his) class that their brain should being wrongly ruled by love.”

The parent, writing on social media platform Xiaohongshu, said that her son couldn’t understand why Jane chooses to marry a man who was blind, and the whole thing looked like a bad deal.

Qin Shiwen, a recent Chinese literature graduate in Beijing told CNN that including a classic like Jane Eyre into primary education “is very necessary.”

“China’s basic education system places a heavy emphasis on academic knowledge and high achievement, but very, very little focus on love or character development,” said Shiwen.

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But the book, first published in 1847, has in recent years been criticized for its treatment of a character Brontë often describes as a ‘mad woman.”

“The more I think about it, the more problematic I find it,” said Yan Hairong, a sociology scholar at Beijing’s Tsinghua University, pointing to the portrayal of the “mad woman in the attic” and the book’s “underlying themes of colonialism.”

Yan has doubts whether the novel will help Chinese teenagers build up healthy values, saying some students may just absorb it “without critically examining the problematic ideas embedded within it.”

“I have some concerns about teaching the novel at the middle-school level, particularly if it is presented as a textbook or as an example of profound romantic love,” Yan told CNN.

China’s new school textbooks, launched this month, have gone through extensive revision as part of an ongoing effort to align children’s thoughts and values with the core values promoted by the ruling communist party.

The party history, Chinese morality and the country’s legal system have become essential components of the 9-year mandatory education system in recent years. And in 2021, officials published a new series of texts to explain leader Xi Jinping’s thoughts on socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era.

Besides Jane Eyre, other changes this year include the removal of an article on creative thinking and the inclusion of a new texts teaching children how to be a well-rounded socialist builders and stories about China’s athletic and space achievements.

本月初，中国青少年重返校园时，他们新的必读书目中有一本书格外引人注目：那就是19世纪的英国小说《简·爱》。

这部文学经典最初被认为是女性赋权的开创性故事，但在一个教科书由国家严格把关以确保意识形态一致性的国家，这似乎是一个令人惊讶的选择。

但北京方面从夏洛蒂·勃朗特的作品中看到了另一个信息——找到真爱的价值。

据官方媒体《北京日报》报道，这个故事对社交媒体时代“关于外表和财富的肤浅观念”提出了反驳。

近年来，以炫富、受委屈的恋人、忧郁的亿万富翁和策划复仇的悲惨情妇为主题的网络小说和微剧已成为主流娱乐内容，这也引起了中国审查机构的关注。

今年6月，广播监管机构发起了一场运动，打击那些被认为宣扬对恋爱和婚姻“扭曲”观点的“有害和低俗”内容。

《北京日报》称，阅读《简·爱》的故事——一个孤儿女孩在经历一系列磨难后找到独立，最终爱上富有的雇主——将有助于中国14岁的青少年“培养更健全的价值观”。

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“当孩子们开始体验浪漫的感觉，并且还很天真、缺乏经验时，这是培养健康性格的关键阶段，”声明中写道。

自1925年首次传入中国以来，这部成长故事在中国一直广受欢迎，并被翻译、出版和改编成戏剧和电影无数次。甚至在1979年，中国经历了动荡的文化大革命之后，一部英国电影也进入了中国影院。

简·爱——她曾对未来的丈夫说：“你以为我贫穷、默默无闻、相貌平平、身材矮小，就意味着我没有灵魂、没有心吗？你错了！”——长期以来被中国工人阶级视为反抗压迫的女英雄。而这本书也早已被中国执政的共产党所接受。

但在此之际，其他形式的女权主义讨论和行动在中国日益受到审查，因此将其纳入课程就显得格外引人注目。

一些家长质疑，在相对舒适的环境中长大的当代中国年轻人，是否能够理解或体会小说中描绘的深刻而复杂的爱情故事。

一位家长说，她的儿子问她，读《简·爱》是否会“教（他）班上的女孩们，让她们的大脑被爱情错误地支配”。

这位家长在社交媒体平台小红书上发文称，她的儿子无法理解简为什么会选择嫁给一个盲人，整件事看起来很糟糕。

秦诗文是北京一位刚从中国文学专业毕业的学生，​​她告诉 CNN，将《简·爱》这样的经典作品纳入小学教育“非常必要”。

“中国的基础教育体系非常重视学术知识和高成就，但对爱或品格培养却非常非常不重视，”石文说。

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但该书于 1847 年首次出版，近年来因其对勃朗特笔下经常被描述为“疯女人”的角色的处理方式而受到批评。

“我越想越觉得这本书有问题，”北京清华大学社会学学者严海荣指出，书中对“阁楼里的疯女人”的刻画以及“殖民主义的潜在主题”都存在问题。

严先生怀疑这部小说是否能帮助中国青少年树立健康的价值观，他说有些学生可能只是“不加批判地审视其中存在的问题思想”就接受了它。

“我对在中学阶段教授这部小说有些担忧，特别是如果它被当作教科书或作为深刻浪漫爱情的例子来呈现的话，”闫告诉 CNN。

中国本月推出的新版学校教科书经过了大量修订，这是为使儿童的思想和价值观与执政的共产党所倡导的核心价值观保持一致而持续努力的一部分。

近年来，党的历史、中国道德和国家法律体系已成为九年义务教育体系的重要组成部分。2021年，官方发布了一系列新教材，阐释习近平主席关于新时代中国特色社会主义的思想。

除了《简·爱》之外，今年的其他变化还包括删除一篇关于创造性思维的文章，并新增了一些教孩子们如何成为全面发展的社会主义建设者的文章，以及一些关于中国体育和太空成就的故事。