Dai Sijie: Balzac und die kleine chinesische Schneiderin

Book club with sinologist Dagmar Borchard on Wednesday, May 20, 2026 from 6 to 7.30 pm at the Museum Fünf Kontinente.

During the Cultural Revolution, teenagers Ma and Luo are sent to a remote mountain village for re-education, where they are forced to do hard physical labor. One day, they discover a suitcase full of banned Western literature. Luo falls in love with the old tailor's enchanting granddaughter, who has no schooling at all, and reads to her from the books. Initially naive and conformist, the reading changes her outlook on life and she begins to think about love, freedom and self-determination.

Dai Sijie is a Chinese-French writer. His debut novel Balzac and the Little Chinese Dressmaker is based on his own experiences and was an international success.

Novels and stories from China, Japan and Korea

Numerous works by Chinese, Japanese and Korean authors have found their way into world literature. In the book club with Dagmar Borchard, we discuss both classics and contemporary publications that reflect the literary diversity of these countries.
Each month we will select a work in German translation and discuss it together. Please obtain the respective book and read it by the date of the meeting. The leader will give a short introduction to the author and the work.

Dagmar Borchard, sinologist, fully qualified lawyer and journalist, has led a German literature circle for the German Club Shanghai and an English book club for the Royal Asiatic Society Shanghai Branch for more than 10 years.