ARTS / CULTURE & LEISURE
Presenting people’s perseverance, fruitful life in contemporary China
Under the cloud
A plump middle-aged woman is feeding her husband in persistent vegetative state (PVS) fruit juice, and then cleaning his neck, armpits and ankle before changing a diaper and combing his hair. However, this is not something she is doing only on this day, but a daily routine she has been maintaining for six long years.
Her name is Wan Ying, and she is the heroine of the new novel Yun Luo or Under the Cloud, written by Chinese writer Zhang Chu. This first novel of the laureate of several Chinese literature prizes such as the Lu Xun Literature Prize, depicts the life of ordinary people in a small county in northern China over the past 40 years. In a recent interview with the Global Times, Zhang shared about his writing intention, his creative process, and his expectations for this novel to go global.
Zhang Chu, born in the 1970s, had lived in a county in North China's Hebei Province for over 30 years. The characters in his novel, belong to a fictional county about 50 kilometers from Bohai Bay and all epitomize the people he was familiar with during this period, including Wan Ying, several men related to her, her friends and neighbors.
'Sense of responsibility'
The story happened in the 1970s before China's reform and opening-up, and it showed the changes of people's lives over the past 40 some years. The heroine Wan Ying is someone the writer loves.
Short, stout with "one eye bigger than the other," Wan looks nothing special, but she is shy, honest and reliable.
Wan is a typical Chinese woman who treats others kindly. Six years prior, her husband suddenly became a PVS patient due to overdrinking. Besides taking care of him every day as mentioned above, she did a few more odd jobs to make a living, including waiting on customers in a donkey meat restaurant, doing massage in a small clinic, helping in a barber’s shop, cleaning in a home inn, and selling curtains in a store. After six years, her husband finally woke up and started getting back into shape, something for which her mother-in-law showed great appreciation to her.
The author said he really knew someone in the county he lived who was as kind-hearted as Wan. "I just want to show their kindness, tolerance and sense of responsibility."
Lively with unique personalities
Over the last four decades, China's counties, the intermediate area between cities and rural areas, have also witnessed fast economic development, the writer explained.
"All characters in my novel are very lively and have unique personalities," Zhang said. "Every individual is a part of their time, and the stories of the people in different sectors of the county unavoidably bear its imprint. The main characters in my novel all show the hard-working, persistent and tenacious spirit of the new era."
In this respect, the writer gave more weight to a character like a young man named Luo Xiaojun.
A former classmate of Wan, Luo was also "a small potato" who lost his father when he was very young. But he worked very hard with a strong determination and finally became a real estate manager at the age of 39, a successful man in the big wave of reform.
"Luo is a typical example of Chinese people who started from scratch and shake off poverty totally by self-reliance," said Zhang. "Through the efforts of numerous people like Luo, China has become what it is like now."
Jiang Mingfang, Wan's best friend, is a tenacious and independent woman. Having tried various kinds of business in different parts of China like many Chinese people at that time, she finally settled down to the county of Yunluo, her hometown and runs her own barber's shop, where Wan works part-time. However, she has always kept strong-willed, optimistic, and helpful, which Wan admires.
During the process of forging ahead toward a better life, Chinese people persevered many hardships, especially Chinese women. Jiang is the typical example of them. She is the role model of the heroine Wan in the novel as well as other Chinese women, according to Zhang.
"The characters like Luo and Jiang display the diligent spirit of the Chinese people in the big wave of economic development in the new era," the writer emphasized.
Going global
Yun Luo is such a touching story that resonates with many Chinese readers today as they identify with the characters. However, there are still limited Chinese literary works that have been published overseas, as Zhang said.
"Actually, many overseas readers, and especially Western readers, would like to know what is happening in China today and how the Chinese people live now," according to an expert.
Regarding how to promote his novel in other parts of the world, Zhang said, "First, a good story is a must. Second, a novel must contain multidimensional elements that include Chinese history and culture. Third, we must touch people in other parts of the world with our own aesthetics."
He also confessed that Chinese people are more familiar with the literature in other parts of the world than the other way round. "So, we must present a China with its distinctive characteristics to the world."
People visit an ancient cultural street in Tianjin, North China. Photo: VCG
Her name is Wan Ying, and she is the heroine of the new novel Yun Luo or Under the Cloud, written by Chinese writer Zhang Chu. This first novel of the laureate of several Chinese literature prizes such as the Lu Xun Literature Prize, depicts the life of ordinary people in a small county in northern China over the past 40 years. In a recent interview with the Global Times, Zhang shared about his writing intention, his creative process, and his expectations for this novel to go global.
Zhang Chu, born in the 1970s, had lived in a county in North China's Hebei Province for over 30 years. The characters in his novel, belong to a fictional county about 50 kilometers from Bohai Bay and all epitomize the people he was familiar with during this period, including Wan Ying, several men related to her, her friends and neighbors.
'Sense of responsibility'
The story happened in the 1970s before China's reform and opening-up, and it showed the changes of people's lives over the past 40 some years. The heroine Wan Ying is someone the writer loves.
Short, stout with "one eye bigger than the other," Wan looks nothing special, but she is shy, honest and reliable.
Wan is a typical Chinese woman who treats others kindly. Six years prior, her husband suddenly became a PVS patient due to overdrinking. Besides taking care of him every day as mentioned above, she did a few more odd jobs to make a living, including waiting on customers in a donkey meat restaurant, doing massage in a small clinic, helping in a barber’s shop, cleaning in a home inn, and selling curtains in a store. After six years, her husband finally woke up and started getting back into shape, something for which her mother-in-law showed great appreciation to her.
The author said he really knew someone in the county he lived who was as kind-hearted as Wan. "I just want to show their kindness, tolerance and sense of responsibility."
Zhang Chu at a session with readers
Lively with unique personalities
Over the last four decades, China's counties, the intermediate area between cities and rural areas, have also witnessed fast economic development, the writer explained.
"All characters in my novel are very lively and have unique personalities," Zhang said. "Every individual is a part of their time, and the stories of the people in different sectors of the county unavoidably bear its imprint. The main characters in my novel all show the hard-working, persistent and tenacious spirit of the new era."
In this respect, the writer gave more weight to a character like a young man named Luo Xiaojun.
A former classmate of Wan, Luo was also "a small potato" who lost his father when he was very young. But he worked very hard with a strong determination and finally became a real estate manager at the age of 39, a successful man in the big wave of reform.
"Luo is a typical example of Chinese people who started from scratch and shake off poverty totally by self-reliance," said Zhang. "Through the efforts of numerous people like Luo, China has become what it is like now."
Jiang Mingfang, Wan's best friend, is a tenacious and independent woman. Having tried various kinds of business in different parts of China like many Chinese people at that time, she finally settled down to the county of Yunluo, her hometown and runs her own barber's shop, where Wan works part-time. However, she has always kept strong-willed, optimistic, and helpful, which Wan admires.
During the process of forging ahead toward a better life, Chinese people persevered many hardships, especially Chinese women. Jiang is the typical example of them. She is the role model of the heroine Wan in the novel as well as other Chinese women, according to Zhang.
"The characters like Luo and Jiang display the diligent spirit of the Chinese people in the big wave of economic development in the new era," the writer emphasized.
Going global
Yun Luo is such a touching story that resonates with many Chinese readers today as they identify with the characters. However, there are still limited Chinese literary works that have been published overseas, as Zhang said.
"Actually, many overseas readers, and especially Western readers, would like to know what is happening in China today and how the Chinese people live now," according to an expert.
Regarding how to promote his novel in other parts of the world, Zhang said, "First, a good story is a must. Second, a novel must contain multidimensional elements that include Chinese history and culture. Third, we must touch people in other parts of the world with our own aesthetics."
He also confessed that Chinese people are more familiar with the literature in other parts of the world than the other way round. "So, we must present a China with its distinctive characteristics to the world."
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