As an effort to resist the adoption of a linear viewpoint on development, research on Eileen Chang's involutionary narrative shows potential for breaking the linear and progressive narrative conventions regarding history. In this context, the definition of involutionary narrative, the expressions and objectives of involutionary narrative in Chang's works, and the constructive contribution of involutionary narrative besides a nonlinear viewpoint on development serve as crucial issues concerning the research on Chang's involutionary narrative. The connotation of an involutionary narrative is twofold. First, from the aspect of the text, involutionary narrative denotes the repetition of certain elements within works. Second, in the aspect of culture, involutionary narrative indicates an introverted tendency, a spirit opposite to a linear viewpoint on development. Chuanqi is a famous short story and novella collection by Eileen Chang. It conveys Chang's resistance to a linear viewpoint on development through the involution of images, generations and colors, thereby confirming the systematic existence of an involutionary narrative in her works. The three aspects outlined below are related to the involutionary narrative in Chuanqi. First, Chuanqi uses the involution of images to deal with the time issue and spatializes the experience of time. On the one hand, in the aspect of narrative time, Chang materializes and even spatializes time by the involution of time, creating the closed and self-contained structure of works. For example, the involution of the moon in ″The Golden Cangue″ serves as the controller of the narrative speed as well as the producer of the narrative process. On the other hand, involutionary narrative links time with space and expresses the era theme in certain milieu. For instance, the involution of a wall in ″Love in a Fallen City″ not only surpasses the role of the stagnant ″other,″ but also reflects the unsustainability of the linear viewpoint on cultural development, thereby considering the era theme of her works as ordinary life instead of revolution. Second, Chang focuses on specific individuals by resisting the linear viewpoint on development with the aid of the involution of generations. The involution of generations in Chuanqi is characterized by nondirectional involution instead of optimistically linear evolution and deconstructs the myth of evolutionism from the perspective of individuals. On the one hand, the repetition of fate is the most common expression of generations. The involution of generations is shown in ″The Golden Cangue,″ ″Aloeswood Incense: The First Brazier″ and ″The Book of Heart.″ In ″The Golden Cangue,″ Chang'an inherits not only her mother Qiqiao's appearance and manner, but also her fate. On the other hand, although the possibility of development is heralded by the nondirectional involution of generations, any effort to change fate proves invalid in Chang's works. In ″Jasmine Tea,″ Chuanqing attacks Danzhu in order to change his fate. Unfortunately, he finds himself trapped in the chain of heredity forever. Third, the nonlinear viewpoint on development is the bridge to individual values rather than the destination of an involutionary narrative. The involution of red tones is intertwined with the involution of blue and green tones in Chuanqi, forming two opposite meanings and existence genres. The former is often associated with a regressive action as well as characters existing in recollection, whereas the latter points to positive and progressive development as well as characters existing in reality. The involution of red tones is overtly overwhelmed by the involution of blue and green tones in Chuanqi, which is reflected in ″Jasmine Tea″ and ″A Withered Flower.″ Danzhu, a character of the red tones in ″Jasmine Tea,″ fails to transform Chuanqing, a character of the blue and green tones. Thus it can be seen that Chang not only resists a linear viewpoint on development from the perspective of time, but also relies on specific individuals to express her resistance, thereby turning the basis of being from a true/false judgment into a judgment on independent volition and value.
