Red envelope

Author: Gu Jian
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-09-01
Features: A classic masterpiece following Ordinary World. In dreams, water towns float, swaying with the beauty of love between young men and women. Emerging red, dyeing the vibrant era with blooming lives. "Emerging red" usually refers to the blood of a virgin on her first night, but perhaps it can also metaphorically represent a life breakthrough—a change, a leap, like a tender sprout breaking through the soil, like a young moth breaking its cocoon. Every drop of blood shed for dreams is emerging red. This is the growth story of an excellent man, and at the same time, a faithful record of an era. The story begins in the Lixiahe region of northern Jiangsu water towns in the 1970s, depicting the life journey of the protagonist Ding Cunkou from the age of nine to thirty-five—from an ignorant child, a budding adolescent, a spirited youth, to his experience of abandoning teaching for business for love. During this time, beautiful and kind women like Qingyun, Xiuping, Axiang, Aixiang, and Chuni fell in love with him, giving rise to a series of lively scenes of the joys and sorrows, happiness and sorrow of human love. The novel unfolds a vast and vivid popular landscape filled with the true flavors of life in beautiful, melancholic, metaphorical, and words. A host of distinct and vivid character portraits are depicted vividly, as if they could leap off the page. The positive portrayal of female beauty and sexual awakening runs through the entire work, but it is never or overused. It is candid to the point of innocence, clean and beautiful. The plot flows like clouds and water, yet it is full of twists and turns, unexpected events, leaving readers spellbound and moved yet heartbroken. At the same time, it embodies a precious spirit of realistic critique of the era of reform. Emerging Red is nostalgic yet not attached to the old, melancholic yet optimistic, with a unique charm. It is a green read, and more than a soul-stirring balm. This is a nostalgic novel shrouded in a faint melancholy, with autobiographical undertones. The author's writing is lingering and emotionally profound, as the rich life experiences of a man and the vibrant rural life unfold like a folk art scroll, offering readers ample emotional inspiration and aesthetic pleasure. Though young, the author walks the path of a classic writer. It is a path that is bright yet fraught with pitfalls. May he walk well!—Mo Yan
Novels are about people. The beauty of a novel lies in its truth. The origin of Chinese novels is storytelling. Many masterpieces of contemporary Chinese fiction focus on rural life and the era. I was surprised to find such a novel online, telling stories in the traditional way, about people's personalities, relationships, destinies, and history; about a corner of the countryside, a segment of the era. What matters most is that it is truthful. This is a novel for everyone, perhaps truly becoming a masterpiece.——Haiyan
The success of Emerging Red online proves the power of details, proving this era's obsession with fragmented, present-moment perspectives on details. Emerging Red also proves that old stories always work, always shape our imagination of ourselves and the world. In this "Gardens of the Great View," all the women love the male protagonist—they could never love an older brother or younger brother, just as we cannot love ourselves. Emerging Red is a model of our current spiritual state; it is "showy" and romantic, and its protagonist, despite everything, has not reached the end of their spiritual journey. It is indeed a novel written by people of this era, belonging to this era, witnessing our struggles and our relentless self-consolation.——Li Jingze