From the Old Country: Stories and Sketches of China and Taiwan (Modern Chinese Literature from Taiwan)

Zhong Lihe (1915�1960) grew up in a village in Pingtung and spent his early adulthood working on his father�s remote hill farm in Meinong. In between and after, he spent considerable time in Taiwan�s cities, chiefly Kaohsiung and Taipei, as well as in Mukden and Peking in Mainland China. Most of his earliest stories were written on the Mainland when he was in his mid to late-twenties, and many of those are set in Manchuria and China. His work realistically and humanely critiques and celebrates the problems and riches of the communities and cultures he knew, particularly the Hakka Chinese peasantry of his native rural South Taiwan. T. M. McClellan was born in Edinburgh and grew up in Tweeddale in the Scottish Borders.. He earned his bachelor�s and Ph.D. degrees at the University of Edinburgh and specialized in modern Chinese literature. He is the author of Zhang Henshui and Popular Chinese Fiction, 1919�1949. We can Americanize his �took� and get rid of personal details! Zhong Tiejun is Zhong Lihe�s third and only surviving son. He is known as a literary writer on family and Meinong affairs. Though he lived mostly in rural South Taiwan, Zhong Lihe (1915?1960) spent several years in Manchuria and Peking, moving among an eclectic mix of ethnicities, classes, and cultures. His fictional portraits unfold on Japanese battlefields and in Peking slums, as well as in the remote, impoverished hill-country villages and farms of Zhong Lihe's native Hakka districts. His scenic descriptions are deft and atmospheric, and his psychological explorations are acute. The first anthology to present his work in English, this volume features two novellas, ten short stories, and four short prose works Though he lived mostly in rural South Taiwan, Zhong Lihe (1915-1960) spent several years in Manchuria and Peking, moving among an eclectic mix of ethnicities, classes, and cultures. His ficitonal portraits unfold on Japanese battlefields and in Peking slums, as well as in the remote, impoverished hill-country villages and farms of Zhong Lihe's native Hakka districts. His scenic descriptions are deft and atmospheric, and his psychological explorations are acute. The first anthology to present his work in English, this volume features two novellas, ten short stories, and four short prose works Though he lived most of his life in rural South Taiwan, Zhong Lihe spent several years in Manchuria and Peking, moving among an eclectic mix of ethnicities, social classes, and cultures. His fictional portraits unfold on Japanese battlefields and in Peking slums, as well as in the remote, impoverished hill-country villages and farms of his native Hakka districts. His scenic descriptions are deft and atmospheric, and his psychological explorations are acute. The first anthology to present his work in English, this volume features two novellas, ten short stories, and four short prose works. Content: Foreword by Zhong TiejunSources, Translations, and AcknowledgmentsTranslator's IntroductionPart 1: Formative Years1. My Grandma from the Mountains2. First Love3. From the Old CountryPart 2: Stories from the Old Country4. In the Willow Shade5. Oleander6. The Fourth DayPart 3: Homeland7. Zugteuzong8. Forest Fire9. Uncle A-Huang10. My "Out-Law" and the Hill SongsPart 4: Meinong Lyrics11. My Study12. The Grassy Bank13. The Plow and the Sky14. The Little RidgePart 5: Meinong Economics15. Swimming and Sinking16. Rain