Description:
In this captivating collection from the Shaanxi region, considered the cradle of Chinese civilization, twenty disparate and unique voices come together to show a China caught between new-world advancements and old-world traditions. From the homeland of China's first dynasty and the world-famous terra-cotta warriors, these tales show rugged rural life colliding with fast-paced city life; hollow arranged marriages juxtaposed with torrid forbidden love affairs; and the vanity of newly minted millionaires clashing with the desperation of the poor. Through the eyes of award-winning authors, we see a changing China--from the Cultural Revolution to the country's infamous one-child policy--giving us a profound look at the evolution of a land that is at once ancient and modern.
Brief description:
Chen Zhongshi was born in 1942 in the Baqiao district of Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province. He began writing in 1965. Since 1979, when he joined the Chinese Writers Association, he has published nine novellas, over eighty short stories, and more than fifty pieces of reportage, prose, and essays. He has published collections of short stories, including The Village and Going Back to the Old Poplar; literary criticism collected as My Creation Experience; a collection of essays; and several collections of novellas and novels, including Early Summer and Fourth Younger Sister.
Chen Zhongshi's short story "Trust" was awarded the National Outstanding Works prize in 1979. In the years since, his novels and other works have won many awards, including the Contemporary Literature Prize, the National Reportage Prize, the Shaanxi Double-Five Literature Prize, and the Mao Dun Literature Award. His piece "A Willow on Qinghai Plateau" was included in one of China's primary literature textbooks.