When a science fiction writer gives up making men the protagonists.

Gu Shi, a part-time science fiction writer and a full-time urban planner, had her "awakening" moment in the seventh year of writing science fiction novels.

In 2017, with her writing skills becoming increasingly mature, she won the Best Short Story Award at the Chinese Science Fiction Galaxy Award for her short story "Mobius Time and Space" (a story about a male protagonist getting trapped in a Mobius time loop after a car accident). This story was translated into English, and foreign readers asked pointed questions: Why are there no women and no China in your novels?

Yes, since she started writing science fiction short and medium - length stories in 2011, most of the protagonists in her works were male. At that time, most of the science fiction books on the market were European and American works from the golden age of science fiction in the last century. Perhaps influenced by this, she was good at writing in a translated - style and used male protagonists to tell stories. This was her "comfort zone". But it was time for her to step out of this comfort zone, that is - how to define your own works? What can only I write and others can't?

The questions from foreign readers indirectly reminded her: "Because the environment I live in, my gender, and my nationality are all valuable. I must speak out as a Chinese female writer. Only such a voice is irreplaceable." Gu Shi told "Post - wave Research Institute".

She called it an "awakening of subjectivity" and started to try a new writing style. For example, she gave up her familiar translated - style and wrote a novel with a drama - like texture called "Betting on the Brain" in a more martial - arts - like tone, which won her the Best Medium - length Story Award at the Chinese Science Fiction Galaxy Award in 2019. But behind the award, she described the writing process as a bit like "starting over with a new account". In "Betting on the Brain", it was the male protagonist who entered the city, but it was the female protagonist who finally walked out. Her gender view in the whole creative process changed greatly at that moment.

In 2022, Gu Shi received an invitation from Arizona State University to write a science fiction short story about climate change. Naturally, she associated the logical chain of "rising sea level - flood outbreak" in the topic with the story of "Dayu Controlling the Flood" in Chinese culture. So she wrote "Choosing a City", conceiving an artificial intelligence navigation system named "YU" that arranges the best escape routes for humans in the era of great floods in the future.

But when looking up relevant literature, she couldn't help thinking about another question: "Dayu passed by his home three times without entering. How did his wife survive in the era of great floods? Why doesn't anyone discuss how this woman raised the first monarch of the Xia Dynasty, Qi, on her own?"

After reading the original text of "Shan Hai Jing", she felt more and more puzzled. Why does "Shan Hai Jing" say that "Gun gave birth to Yu from his belly" when Gun was clearly Yu's father? Why did Dayu call a meeting of tribal leaders at Tushan after establishing the Xia Dynasty, and his wife happened to be the daughter of the Tushan clan? Going further back, Shun got the throne through Yao's abdication, and he married Yao's two daughters, Ehuang and Nvying. Why, in "Lienü Zhuan", did Shun have to report everything to the "two women" and only do something after they told him "Go"?

In Gu Shi's words, science fiction writers are all setting - control freaks. "To construct and deduce a story, we must make it reasonable at the logical level." She searched hundreds of CNKI literatures but could hardly find answers to these questions. She had to deduce possible scenarios by herself until one moment she suddenly realized - if it was a matriarchal society, everything would make sense.

"Zhuangzi said that in ancient times, 'people only knew their mothers, not their fathers'. Maybe these heroes married into female families to gain the legitimacy of their respected status. Even a great hero like Dayu needed the support of his wife's maternal family. And Ehuang, with the character 'huang' in her name, do we still need to talk about her status? Yao's wife was also called 'Empress'. Is this a coincidence?"

For several days, she was in a state of shocked "world - view reshaping". Then she thought that she needed to create a myth - retelling story set in the ancient matriarchal society with a more "reasonable" gender view.

Over the years, she has been trying to break away from stereotypical female roles and depict the appearance of women in her mind. Gradually, she found that she likes to write female characters who can "take care of others", which are also the kind of women she meets in life. In her works such as "For the Poetry and Distance of Life" and "The Record of Killing Gods", there are relatively strong female characters.

Gu Shi told "Post - wave Research Institute" that there is an advantage in discussing women's dilemmas in science fiction works. "Science fiction can break the reality, expose one aspect of the problem more deeply, and also provide the possibility of solving the problem. We can try to describe a more positive gender future or a more negative one."

For example, "The Handmaid's Tale" shows a possible scenario (an era when women become breeding tools and are under surveillance), thus warning people to avoid a more negative future.

In July 2024, Gu Shi published her second collection of short stories, "Overture to 2181" - the medium - length story "The Record of Killing Gods", which tells about gods constantly changing genders, is also included in this book, and it also made it onto the 2024 Douban Annual Reading List. On the title page, she wrote that she wanted to "constructively look forward to a more equal gender view and a possible positive future". And she started to prepare for the publication of an anthology of Chinese female science fiction writers.

In the same year, her "Introduction to the Second Edition of 'Overture to 2181'" was short - listed for the Hugo Award for Best Novelette, and all 16 characters in it are women in different professions.

How did a female science fiction writer explore gender perspectives, science fiction topics, and female writing in her more than a decade of writing career? Gu Shi had a chat with "Post - wave Research Institute".

This is a picture of Gu Shi

Here is her self - narration.

"Why are there no women in your novels?"

After "Mobius Time and Space" won the award in 2017 and was translated into English, when communicating with foreign readers offline, a female science fiction fan who had served as the president of the World Science Fiction Convention asked me, "Why are there no women in your novels?" At that time, only women had won awards like the Hugo Award overseas for several consecutive years. I thought it might be a bit of an unfair victory, so my answer at that time was that we should still define the quality of a work by its text, not just by gender.

Then she asked me, "Do you think it's normal that only men win awards? For so many years in the past, only men have won awards."

At that moment, I suddenly realized that I seemed to have gotten used to such a result - in previous Chinese science fiction awards, out of the seven or eight awards for long, medium, and short stories each year, there was often only one for women, and the rest were for men. In one year, all the judges and winners were men. This didn't seem right either. However, the organizers of our science fiction awards adjusted quickly. I've observed that in the main awards now, at least 2 out of the 7 judges are women. In one year, Professor Dai Jinhua was the chairperson of the jury for the Chinese Science Fiction Nebula Award, and 6 out of the 7 judges that year were women.

Later, another American science fiction fan asked me a question about Chinese science fiction: "Why aren't there any elements of China in your novels?" At that time, due to "The Three - Body Problem" and the large - scale translation of Chinese science fiction short stories overseas, overseas attention to Chinese science fiction was relatively high. Moreover, science fiction is a global genre, and we have a lot of exchanges with overseas readers. I could feel that the world needs more Chinese science fiction works.

But many writers, including me, were still imitating the texts from the golden age decades ago and didn't integrate Chinese culture into our works. I found that several best - selling science fiction books overseas were written by Chinese - American writers. One book about Wu Zetian driving a robot to fight aliens was very popular. I thought, are we going to give away the voices of Chinese women?

I realized that if I don't write about women, men won't either; if there is no Chinese culture in my science fiction works as a Chinese writer, others might only treat Chinese culture as an Orientalist wonder.

The real change here is actually an awakening of subjectivity. Around 2017, I had been writing science fiction for about 6 years, and my writing skills were basically mature. I could create my own works according to the styles of different magazines and the needs of different editors. But every writer will face the same problem at a certain stage: How to define your own works? If you keep creating like this for a long time, you're just an ordinary member of a large group of genre writers, and no one will notice you. Your creation can be replaced by anyone.

So I have to find a point. What can only I write and others can't? I realized that my perspective is valuable because the environment I live in, my gender, and my nationality are all valuable. I must speak out as a Chinese female writer. Only such a voice is irreplaceable.

Later, when I reread my two books, I thought that in the period of "Mobius Time and Space", I was quite hard - working when writing male protagonists. They were more like characters with "set personalities" to drive the story. But in "Overture to 2181", it was a bit better. The author let the characters find their own destinies.

Female characters who can "take care of others"

With this idea in mind, in 2018, I wrote the medium - length story "Betting on the Brain" (in this story, like betting on stones, people can buy the brains of others that store memories and emotions to understand the world). "Betting on the Brain" is completely different from all my previous novels in terms of writing style. I gave up my familiar translated - style and male perspective and wrote a novel with a drama - like texture in a more martial - arts - like tone. For me, it was a bit like "starting over with a new account", and it also made my gender view in the whole creative process change greatly.

This story starts from the perspective of the male protagonist, Lin Yan. But as the truth is gradually revealed, it is Mu Yanran, a self - opinionated and very brave girl, who finally walks out of the story. Lin Yan is more like a fictional character I can control, but Mu Yanran is more like myself as a writer. She is a girl and the lord of a city. She can maintain the order of a city and is not afraid of everyone's warnings about fate. She takes the initiative to break the status quo and leave the city.

For a writer, sometimes it's quite scary to put yourself into the work or allow readers to see yourself. But in the end, I still think it's fun to let "her" go out and explore on her own.

Then I wrote "For the Poetry and Distance of Life" and "Introduction to the Second Edition of 'Overture to 2181'". The female images in these two short stories are relatively strong. Not to mention that "Overture to 2181" basically features all - female characters. Sixteen women in different professions drive the development of the story.

Gradually, I found that I like to write female characters who can "take care of others". Maybe it's because there are often such people in my life. For example, there are always very lovely female leaders who guide me at work.

When I wrote "Chimera" in 2014 (a woman uses biotechnology to make a pig grow her son's kidney to save her son with kidney failure, but unexpectedly, this animal also develops her son's nervous system), I vaguely had this feeling. In that medium - length story, there is always a clue, an unnamed "she", who is the person I want to be in my mind. "She" is an authority who can control everything and a person who breaks the rules. So later in "The Record of Killing Gods", I wrote about Xihe. Xihe is a god herself, the one who sets the rules of the game, an upgraded version of "her".

I think my understanding of women is probably greatly influenced by my mother. She was one of the first batch of students to be admitted to Tsinghua University after the resumption of the college entrance examination. She is a very all - around academic achiever, with strong work ability and takes good care of me. She is an electrical engineer who was still sent on an overseas assignment to Peru in her 60s. After retirement, she still has the enthusiasm to learn Spanish specifically and go to the African savannah to watch lions. Some of her classmates are still climbing Mount Kilimanjaro and running marathons in their 70s. I've always thought that my mother is an all - powerful existence who can do everything well.

Our family is actually a very matriarchal family. My mother has several sisters, and my maternal grandparents' family holds weekly gatherings. Since there are few men at the gatherings, originally, we wanted to give them a privilege by cooking special food for them separately. In the end, it seems more like they don't sit at the table (laughs).

From childhood to adulthood, at these weekend gatherings, I was with my mother, aunties, and