Chinese literature originated in the distant era of the Shang dynasty (1600 - 1027 BC) and has changed several times throughout its development. Modern Chinese literature, of course, carries a different message from the ancient one. It is interesting that the origin of ancient literature was based on the myths and legends of China, which were passed down from generation to generation. Such works gave impetus to the cultural development of China, and over time, people could already enjoy reading certain literary genres.
Book lovers will get acquainted in this collection with 10 different genre Chinese bestsellers, which certainly will not be bored. The books included in the list are read in one breath and tighten from the first lines. Intriguing, agree? And it is quite justified!
10. "Sisters from the North"
Number of pages: 370
Author: Sheng Kei
Genre: modern foreign literature
The topic of a difficult fate is popular both in cinema and literature. Happy end and a logical outcome are what we savor every frame, every new line ... It is not surprising that the novel "Sisters from the North" by Sheng Kei earned favorable reviews from critics, because the writer is characterized by an original style of writing and a non-standard outlook on labor migration.
2 girls - Qian Xiaohong and Li Sijiang, move to a big city from a village in Hunan, wanting to earn good money. Wandering among the lights of a big city, girls dream a lot and believe that everything will turn out in the best way for them. When it finally seems to them that life has improved, tragedies soon occur. But the girls do not give up, a ray of hope helps them survive in this harsh world.
9. "Metamorphoses, or the Game of Folding Pictures"
Number of pages: 471
Author: Wang Meng
Genre: modern prose
Wang Meng's work is the most striking example in Chinese literature of an active search for a new style, imagery, and compositional techniques. The writer deftly knows how to present ordinary things to the reader through his prose from a non-standard perspective, focusing on the problems of social life. Wang Meng reveals in the novel the inner world and destinies of people of his generation.
Even if you do not know anything about the political companies that flourished in China under Mao Zedong (1893 - 1976), and you are not eager to study this period of history, "Metamorphoses, or the Game of Folding Pictures" will still "suck" you. This story is about the narcissistic bore Ni Wucheng, against whom his family is waging a permanent war. There is no mutual understanding in the family, but this problem is so easy to solve ... It is enough to learn to communicate and hear each other.
8. "Brothers"
Number of pages: 576
Author: Yu Hua
Genre: novel
"Brothers" is a very strange and controversial novel, and as you read it, you will understand why. It is unlikely that in the entire world literature there is such an amazing combination of unreasonable grotesque, acute social prose, poisonous satire and cruel tragedy.Yu Hua in his novel skillfully combines incompatible things, does not use the rule "know the sense of proportion in everything" ... Reading it is both easy and difficult, but how interesting!
This work would never have become a bestseller in Russia, but Yu Hua was able to satisfy Chinese readers. In a satirical style, the writer describes modern Chinese society in which new values include high status, money, and lust. Trouble also comes to a small town near Shanghai: in Luzhen, Komsomol members become brothel holders, fighters of the ideological front become PR specialists, and marginals become successful oligarchs ...
7. "Red Gaoliang"
Number of pages:480
Author: Yan Mo
Genre: novel
"Red Gaoliang" is the most famous work of the Nobel Prize winner (2012) Yan Mo. Critics agree that the writer won the award for this novel, which was included in the list of the 100 best Chinese novels of the 20th century. In 1988, the international premiere of the film "Red Gaoliang" took place at the Berlin Film Festival, based on the novel by Mo Yan.
It is a great joy to hold the book "Red Gaoliang" in your hands. It differs from current prose by the lack of self-examination of the author, savoring childhood psychotrauma, which is characteristic of most authors of modern prose. Mo Yan's work is something completely different, a different world. The lines contain Chinese wisdom, which allows, with an abundance of terrible situations, to meditatively detach from the world and clearly see the abomination of violence in all its manifestations ...
6. "One word is worth a thousand"
Number of pages: 560
Author: Liu Zhenyun
Genre: modern foreign literature
Today, One Word Worth a Thousand is Liu Zhenyun's most famous work, winning the 2011 Mao Dun Literary Prize, China's premier literary award. It is noteworthy that in 2017 the author presented this book to the Russian reader at the Chinese Cultural Center in Moscow. Liu Zhenyun's daughter made a film in 2016 based on her father's novel.
The novel is both satirical and harsh, because life itself mocks the heroes, pushing them in search of ghostly happiness ... Liu Zhenyun managed to recreate the immense Chinese loneliness between the lines: at sharp turns of life, in a huge world among different people, a person has no one to just talk heart to heart , and it seems that even God does not hear him ...
5. "Tears are gold"
Number of pages: 437
Author: He Jianming
Genre: documentary prose
The documentary "Tears is Gold" takes you to the weekdays of poor Chinese students. The works of the documentary genre, as a rule, are based on non-fictional characters and stories, pushing the reader to think and comprehend reality. At the epicenter of the plot are poor students, an increase in wealth inequality, which leads to social tension.
Interesting fact! Documentary prose became one of the main genres of Chinese literature in the 1980s and 1990s. Until the end of the 1980s, the theme of "thoughts about what happened" dominated, in which the behavior of people in critical situations was thoroughly analyzed, as well as attempts were made to comprehend manipulation, cruelty and cowardice during the "cultural revolution" (1966-1976)
4. "How Xu Sanguan sold blood"
Number of pages: 224
Author: Yu Hua
Genre: modern prose
Anything you can do to keep your family from starving ... The hero of the novel sold his blood, for example. The novel "How Xu Sangyuan Sold Blood" introduces you to a man from the working class, as they say, from the bottom. Opening the book, you can feel bewilderment (probably this will happen to you) because the main characters communicate with each other too primitively, but after all, they are all from the working class, what did we want?
The main characters have the simplest language and the most ordinary life. You will learn how Xu donated blood in his youth and received 35 yuan for it (which is equal to 6 months of work in the field).With the money he received, he taught his son, bought furniture, gifts for his wife's parents, and even celebrated a wedding! Reading the book, you will immerse yourself in the main character with all your soul and learn the depth of his personality, which is revealed more and more with each page you read.
3. "Notes on the Cat City"
Number of pages: 120
Author: Lao She
Genre: science fiction, dystopia
After reading this book once, you will not be able to forget it ... Let's check it? The work is considered one of the most popular by the writer Lao She, translated into Russian, and allows you to experience a new experience. The novel was first published back in 1932. The work is somewhat similar in spirit to the "History of a City" by Saltykov-Shchedrin (1826-1889), is a mixture of cruel dystopia and science fiction, well seasoned with absurdity.
Actions take place on the red planet - Mars, where there is a certain civilization of creatures resembling cats in appearance. The main character of the satirical pamphlet is an earthling, who has matches and a pistol in his arsenal. In the world of strange creatures, he turns out to be the owner of the most powerful weapon ...
2. "I'll be smart."
Number of pages:271
Author: Beijia Huang
Genre: modern prose
In the novel “I will be a clever girl,” the education system is shown from different angles, namely, how teachers, parents and students themselves look at learning. Doing homework, relationships with teachers and parents, peers are the things that are discussed in the book. The author invites readers to follow the different feelings and emotions of the heroes, plunge into the world of a little girl.
Beijia Huang began her career as a children's writer, and she has published more than 20 books about children and their lives. Her most popular book, I'll Be Clever, is written for adults and their children who are guaranteed to enjoy reading. You will dive into the world of Jin Ling girl's adventures, her school routine. In China, a TV series was filmed based on the book, it was translated into a number of languages, and the author also received a national prize in the field of literature for children for the novel.
1. "Tired of being born and dying"
Number of pages:703
Author: Mo Yan
Genre: modern prose
Rebirth of souls is an exciting topic for scientists and philosophers, as well as ordinary people. In his novel Tired of Being Born and Dying, Mo Yan explores the Eastern theory of soul rebirth. In a book woven from different genres, you can trace the journey of the soul in the bodies of different animals. You cannot throw a book away without reading it to the end. The novel will cause you both sadness and tears - be prepared to experience different emotions.
Tired of Born and Dying, Mo Yan's remarkable novel, providing the reader with topics for thought, won the Newman Prize for Chinese Literature. In 1950, during the land reform, a kind and innocent person was shot. A proud soul will return to the world again and again in different guises, fight for its truth and at the same time enjoy the beauty of apricot blossoming in the moonlight ...