Yin and yang: cultural dichotomy and syncretism in Timothy Mo's trilogy

Abstract

This study explores Timothy Mo's treatment of Chinese and Western inter-cultural relationships in his three novels, The Monkey King, Sour Sweet, and An Insular Possession. Mo sees the two cultures as antithetical yet complementary and capable of existing in an equilibrium or balance. To point up such cultural balance, Mo creatively appropriates the Taoist yin-yang ideology which informs the narrative strategies and cultural ideology implicit in his novels. My introduction discusses the yin-yang concept and its relevance to Mo's cultural ideology. Chapter One considers Mo's first novel The Monkey King, set in Hong Kong, in which Mo' s Chinese-Portuguese protagonist Wallace locates the point of balance between his dual heritage. Chapter Two focuses on Mo's use of androgyny in examining the yin-yang balance that the female protagonist strives to achieve in Sour Sweet. Chapter Three considers cultural balance and harmony in Mo's combining Chinese and Western narrative forms in his account of the founding of Hong Kong in An Insular Possession.