A Village Chronicle by a Farmer's Son

Author: Cheng Baolin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-08-01
Features: The story of a person who has finally left the countryside for the city, expressing endless longing for their roots; an autobiography of an urban "small figure." The author, who grew up barefoot in a rural cottage, inherited money from his grandparents and parents, which was also his only asset—kindness. Kindness from the soil nourished him like milk; kindness from the soil flows through the articles of this peasant son like blood. When I read the passage where Grandma uses a "bamboo basket" to carry bean cakes and urges me to deliver them to my grandmother three miles away, tears cannot help but flow. Now, to rediscover these warm, traditional flavors is just like occasionally hearing folk music—it is truly a rare and sublime sound. Reading Cheng Baolin's A Peasant Son's Village Chronicle is like seeing a cultural spokesperson standing alone in the flood of information in a consumer society. From his observations to his reflections, it makes one laugh, feel light and cheerful, shake their head at his innocence, and then be gripped by his gravity, unable to let go, wishing nothing more than to cry. This, perhaps, is the combined power of great writing.