Tales of Hulan River

Resumen del libro

"The Story of Hulan River" encompasses two of Xiao Hong's most celebrated works, "The Story of Hulan River" and "The Field of Life and Death."
"The Story of Hulan River" is a reminiscence-style novel imbued with childlike innocence, poetic charm, and inspiration. The book consists of seven chapters: Chapters 1 and 2 describe the small town's customs, Chapters 3 and 4 discuss family members, and Chapters 5, 6, and 7 portray independent and incidental characters. The author employs a fluid, pervasive artistic technique, using the ebb and flow of emotion as a thread, to write a biography of "the town along the Hulan River where I was born and raised, its customs and people, and the life and death, joys and sorrows of its diverse people." Each of the seven chapters is both self-contained and seamlessly integrated, leaving a lingering ending. Xiao Hong's masterful writing, lyrical atmosphere, and powerful yet light-hearted style create her masterpiece, a timeless classic in Chinese literature. "Field of Life and Death," a classic novel by Xiao Hong, written in September 1934 and part of Lu Xun's "Slave Series," offers a penetrating and profound exploration of the age-old questions of human nature and human survival. This reflection on life and death surpasses that of most contemporary writers. Describing the grievances and grudges of a remote village near Harbin before and after the September 18th Incident, and the villagers' resistance to the Japanese, the novel depicts the Chinese people's resilience in life and their struggle against death.