An Audiobook in Chinese.
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Xiao Hong or Hsiao Hung (2 June 1911 – 22 January 1942) was a Chinese writer. Her given name was Zhang Naiying (張廼瑩); she also used the pen name Qiao Yin.
Tales of the Hulan River is Xiao Hongs third and final novel. Written a year prior to her death, the novel mainly focuses on documenting the writers childhood experience in rural China.
Xiao Hong is sometimes more well-known for her colorful if not dramatic personal life than her works. Nevertheless, her thirst for emotional freedom can be easily found between the lines.
When it comes to structure, Tales of the Hulan River is completely different from a normal novel, because it does not have a complete storyline or main characters.
Chinese literature giant Maodun has this to say when he wrote the preface for the book.
“It is not the point whether Tales of the Hulan River is a normal novel or not, because it has much more than this abnormality, something even more captivating. It is like a narrative poem, a colorful scenery painting, a sad song.”
Behind the difficulties and toughness of rural China in the 20s and 30s, the first four chapters of the book actually depict a quite beautiful life in the countryside. While the last three chapters tell three separate although related short stories. They are like the stories a grandmother tells her grandchildren around a fireplace. Xiao Hong used a down-to-the-earth approach to show her readers what a tiny, northeastern town looked like and the beauty, kindness as well as ignorance of its people.