Shen Congwen's prose

Author: Shen Congwen
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-05-01
Features: Shen Congwen was exceptionally intelligent and had an extraordinary memory from a young age. At the age of 6, he entered a private school, and at 12, he enrolled in the Model National School (now Wenchangge Primary School). Due to his love for truancy, he was sent to a local technical class and became a supplementary soldier right after graduating from primary school. At the age of 15, he left his hometown and joined a native army, drifting in the Yuanshui River basin for five years. That was the darkest era of China's warlord rule, and he lived among soldiers, farmers, small artisans, and other marginalized individuals of society, experiencing firsthand their miserable lives and witnessing the killing of innocent civilians by the army. After enduring unimaginable hardships, he gained insight into the good and bad aspects of life in a small corner of China, as well as its customs and traditions, laying a rich foundation for his later literary creations. This collection of essays is mostly selected from Shen Congwen's prose writings from the 1930s and 1940s. Among them, his works written and published in the 1930s—Autobiography of Shen Congwen, Reminiscences of Western Hunan, and Western Hunan—are his representative prose works. Autobiography of Shen Congwen recounts the author's life journey during the 20 years before he left Western Hunan. Reminiscences of Western Hunan records the observations and experiences of the author during his return trip to his hometown in the winter of 1934 to visit his mother. Western Hunan was written and published in 1938 when the author passed through Western Hunan en route to Yunnan, primarily introducing the scenery, produce, customs, and traditions of Western Hunan. The last two works are closely related in content and complement each other, reflecting the author's concern for the lives of the people in Western Hunan and his reflections on social issues. They concentrate on Shen Congwen's unique understanding of life and reality, showcasing the distinctive style of his prose art.