Dancer on the Arc (Tokuji)

Author: Liang Xiaosheng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-05-01
Features: How Liang Xiaosheng is as a writer has long been recognized in various common ways. This Is a Magical Land, Tonight There Is a Snowstorm, Snow City, and Tree Rings made him the founder of "sent-down youth literature"; Father, Mother, Younger Brother, Mid-Autumn Again, Black Button, and White Hair Pin established him as a representative author of "family-themed novels"; while works like Elected, Silence Right, Archives, Speaking, and Death of a Scholar are his profound mid-length works that confront reality, proving his unwavering commitment to literary realism—a stance that earned him the nickname "Liang Xiaosheng Year" in 1984. Thus, when a newspaper publicly ranked the "Ten Most Inspiring Writers in China," Liang Xiaosheng was included on the list. He is therefore called a "commoner writer." He is also hailed as "China's Balzac."
Regardless of whether these evaluations are fair or how Liang Xiaosheng himself feels about them—we have unhesitatingly decided to publish a collection of his mid-length novels. And we believe many readers are certainly expecting such a decision to fulfill their desire to understand the full scope of Liang Xiaosheng's mid-length fiction. Once we began this task with the author's cooperation, we were indeed surprised—not expecting that in twenty years, he had written over sixty mid-length novels! In quantity, he is undoubtedly one of the most prolific mid-length fiction writers in contemporary Chinese literature. And in terms of the breadth of themes and diversity of styles, he is truly remarkable. In his mid-length novels, from intellectuals to college students, workers, peasants, police officers, and criminals, as well as various female characters from different eras, form a literary "River Scene at Qingming" depicting Liang Xiaosheng's portrayal of Chinese society.
Or perhaps, when editing these mid-length novels of Liang Xiaosheng, we truly recalled La Comédie Humaine by Balzac. Liang Xiaosheng once described himself in a creative talk as a "writer standing on an arc," using "arc" to symbolize the humanistic quality and stance of literature. Thus, we have chosen the title Dancers on the Arc for this collection of his mid-length novels—because, in our view, that "arc" is also composed of the squares of the manuscript paper. He is one of the few writers in China today who still to write by hand, and the pen is his only dance partner. On the "arc" formed by the squares of the manuscript paper, this writer tirelessly observes reality, tirelessly dancing, dancing.