Fading Wuhan Scenery

Author: Xu Lu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features: This book takes the weathered old house as its backdrop, with the people who lived in the deep courtyard of the old house in different eras as the narrative thread. Based on some sealed documents and personal interviews, it uses the style of documentary prose to uncover the origins and developments of certain events, reveal the destinies of some individuals, restore the historical truth of past grievances and friendships, and also explore and discover the rise and fall of families, industries, and the secrets of their shifts. In the face of the past and present of these weathered old houses, it also gives rise to reflections, inquiries, and laments about the rise and fall of the city's politics, history, economy, culture, as well as its moral ethics and urban customs. The author believes that all these are what Hu Liuming has achieved in her book, and also what the author aims to pursue in this book. This book includes some rarely seen photographs, perhaps seeing the light of day for the first time, such as the portrait of the musician Xian Xinghai in Wuhan, and another photograph of him with his then-lover Quanyunling during a break from filming the war film "Blood Drop" by the East Lake. Here, the author would like to extend special thanks to Qian Daobo of the Hubei Writers' Association for providing these precious photographs, which she had treasured for many years and never shown to the public before.