Rural Phoenix: The "Edge Field" Where Nature Meets

Author: Zhang Jiaping Liu Juhua
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-10-01
Features: During the writing process, I often found myself immersed in a melancholic yet moving emotion when encountering certain scenes or folk tales. For someone like me who has never lived in the countryside, Phoenix County is a book of immense depth, and understanding it is truly not easy. Her simplicity, her beauty, her optimism, her leisurely lifestyle, her closeness to nature, her rich rural atmosphere, and her deep sense of humanity are truly too luxurious for people living in the crowded city. All of this seems to have become distant and long-forgotten. In that remote village, they sing and dance, they reverence the spirits, they are skilled with their hands, and they continue to repeat the lifestyles and rhythms questioned by cultural and social norms—they "inhabit this land poetically." This book interprets the customs and local culture of Phoenix County in Western Hunan, from scenic spots and social life to folk traditions, folk songs, and religious beliefs, from the surface to the essence. It is richly illustrated with vibrant colors, telling the story of the countryside in the way of urban dwellers. May this book be dedicated to all who love traveling, who love Shen Congwen, and who love folk art.