Abstract Notes

Author: Shi Tiesheng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features: Record of a Floating Life is a semi-autobiographical work by Shi Tiesheng. The term "" (xū) means emptiness, and "" (wù xū) refers to contemplating and caring about emptiness. Across the vastness of space and the immensity of time, the author takes readers to gaze upon the beauty and impermanence of life, and to savor the richness and brevity of history. The work narrates the various influences, impacts, norms, and dreams that the transformations of Chinese society since the 1950s have had on a generation of people, including the disabled C, the painter Z, the female teacher O, the poet L, the doctor F, and the female director N. The work is imbued with a mysterious beauty, a modern beauty, and a beauty of kindness.