Chinese "farming literature": women who go back in time for simpler lives

[Hendryk]

In China, a subgenre of time travel fiction has emerged in recent years, and is attracting a largely female readership. Dubbed "farming literature" (though it comprises other media as well), it typically involves a present-day woman who goes back to an earlier historical era to escape the stress of modern life. Whereas protagonists would previously be self-inserts at the imperial court, this new generation of time-travelling heroines have more humble ambitions: they typically end up in charge of a farm, and their challenge is to make it prosper despite the various obstacles in their path.

How ‘Farming Literature’ Became China’s Hottest Genre​

A young woman travels back in time to the 1980s where she has to battle her new fiancé’s difficult relatives, take care of his children, and manage the family home. This is the plot of “I Became a Stepmother in the 1980s,” one of the most popular ultrashort dramas in China this year. Produced on a shoestring budget, it earned more than 20 million yuan ($2.76 million) on the day of its release alone and has racked up over 1.1 billion views on Douyin, the version of TikTok accessible on the Chinese mainland.

The huge success of the show is closely linked with the rapid rise of short and ultrashort dramas over the past couple of years. However, it is also its genre, known as “farming literature,” that has helped attract so many viewers. This genre centers around a female protagonist’s efforts to get rich while battling various villains — mainly in the guise of demanding relatives — and has become widely popular with Chinese web novel readers and film and TV viewers, much like the “high-powered businessman” and “palace intrigue” genres that came before.

The shift of farming literature from male- to female-dominant web novels started with stories about female time travelers. When time travel novels started getting popular in 2004, most featured modern women who traveled back to imperial palaces in ancient times. This kind of “Mary Sue”-centric plot, in which the heroine charms people with a bit of modern knowledge as well as an assertive and easy-going personality, proved hugely popular, eventually peaking in 2007.

However, the trope of a strong woman who’s found herself having to “do battle” in the imperial palace gradually lost its appeal among younger readers. Around 2008, instead of palaces, these time-traveling women began to appear in ordinary family homes. It was at this point that “farming” elements entered the picture.

 

[Thande]

Hmm, almost seems like the cultural equivalent of the Hallmark Christmas movie.

A bit surprising to me given how village life is looked down on in modern China, though I guess being in charge of a farm is a bit different. Also slightly reminds me of "Household Gods" by Turtledove and Judith Tarr.

 

[Yellow Turban]

A bit surprising to me given how village life is looked down on in modern China

It's not like anyone wants to live in Victorian times or be indebted to a Mafia boss, yet western romance is all about that stuff.

 

[Hendryk]

A bit surprising to me given how village life is looked down on in modern China, though I guess being in charge of a farm is a bit different.

It may be a sign of how urbanized China has become, that rural life is now subject to romanticisation. Likewise, the 1980s are far enough back in the past that people who weren't born yet can dream of time-travelling there. I think the first mainstream example was the 2021 movie Hi, Mom! (你好，李焕英) in which a woman struggling with self-image issues finds herself ISOTed to her parents' hometown in 1981, and finds it a less stressful time to be in.

 

[Charles EP M.]

Very much reminding me of the RPGLit books, where a rando with (usually) a dead end job ends up a Level 1 character in a game-based world but builds themselves up; different aesthetics but a similar "a more understandable world where I can prosper". Having characters time travel to do it is weird when villages & farms still exist, the US publishes a lot of small town romances set in the present day, unless that's just a way to completely severe the modern day aspects and skip straight to the village family.

The time travel being to China's 1980s is an interesting one, I'm not used to hearing about that as a fun and simple time to live in China, but guess isn't too far off the 1980s being a fun place to visit in US fiction aimed at people who either never lived in it or primarily remember it as When I Was Five.

 

[Yellow Turban]

The time travel being to China's 1980s is an interesting one, I'm not used to hearing about that as a fun and simple time to live in China, but guess isn't too far off the 1980s being a fun place to visit in US fiction aimed at people who either never lived in it or primarily remember it as When I Was Five.

From the perspective of my grandparents who lived through the 30s and the 60s in one of the poorest parts of the country, it was quite nice, yeah. They got their first color TV around that time and the government built them a house. Much like in the West though the 80s depicted in these stories probably exists outside of any historical reality.

 

[Coiler]

Much like in the West though the 80s depicted in these stories probably exists outside of any historical reality.

Feels like it's 1950s nostalgia in the west: A time of a genuine boom that can get easily romanticized as a golden age.

 

[Talwar]

I'm vaguely reminded of my project from a couple years back.

 

[Elektronaut]

I'm vaguely reminded of my project from a couple years back.

You were trying to build a time machine?

 

[Talwar]

You were trying to build a time machine?

It was covid, I was locked down, I didn't want to bake bread.

 

[Artaxerxes]

Hmm, almost seems like the cultural equivalent of the Hallmark Christmas movie.

A bit surprising to me given how village life is looked down on in modern China, though I guess being in charge of a farm is a bit different. Also slightly reminds me of "Household Gods" by Turtledove and Judith Tarr.

I mean.

 

[Conster]

Funnily this reminds me of the average South Korean drama.

I have (unfortunately) been subjected to some of these through the repost pipeline of TikTok Douyin-Facebook-Instagram, though I think the ones I saw didn't only have farming as an option for their time-travelling protagonists. I recall seeing one where the main character ISOTs back and tells his dad to buy certain stocks to make a pretty penny (i.e. "go back in time and buy FAANG stocks").

The "high-powered businessman" thing is still very prevalent as well. I guess there's some level of projection involved with your average "Food delivery guy is actually richest man in town in disguise"?

Also, in all these cases the writing was absolutely horrendous and was probably done with whatever Huawei's version of ChatGPT is called.

The time travel being to China's 1980s is an interesting one, I'm not used to hearing about that as a fun and simple time to live in China, but guess isn't too far off the 1980s being a fun place to visit in US fiction aimed at people who either never lived in it or primarily remember it as When I Was Five.

It makes sense when you take into account that the 1980s came after a series of unfortunate events: botched industrialization attempt, famine, the Great Helmsman getting high on his own supply and dragging the nation down with him...