Promotion

Author: Ming Yang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-04-05
Features: This is a realistic novel that reflects the personnel issues in government agencies. It differs from any other similar works published in China before, as it chooses a local official in a poor mountainous area, a series of primitive and authentic events that are commonplace and unremarkable. Using the backdrop of a building reshuffling as a thread, it vividly portrays the lives of contemporary characters. Among them, conscience versus desire, justice versus evil, honest officials versus corrupt ones—each a vivid and lifelike image, each a shocking story—allow readers to clearly see the brilliance and filth reflected in the sunlight on a hidden stream deep in the mountains. The exchange of power for money, the entanglement of emotions and desires, the struggle between good and evil, all unfold in the official career of a seventh-rank official.
County Party Secretary Cheng Chen, shortly after taking office, became involved with Yuqin, the county League Secretary. They were frequently intimate, indulging in pleasure and debauchery. Yuqin loved Cheng Chen but also influenced him. To secure a position in the county Party Committee and government, she not only offered her body but also sent the rural girl Wang Qinglian to Cheng Chen’s bed. County Mayor Ouyang Yichuan upheld justice and engaged in fierce political struggles with Cheng Chen. Kind and modest, he suffered injustices but devoted himself to serving the people, earning their love and support.
The novel Promotion depicts the survival state of county and township officials, focusing on portraying officials like Ouyang Yichuan who care for the people and warm their hearts. It vividly portrays the vices of officials like Cheng Chen, who seek promotion and are obsessed with power, detested by the Party and the people. It deeply reflects the in the grassroots cadre management system and cadre system, revealing the principle that those who serve the people rise, those who seek profit fall, and that those who act for the public always achieve good results, while those who act for personal gain inevitably lead to self-destruction.
This is a realistic novel that differs from any other works published in China before that presented the Chinese officialdom from a high perspective, covering central, ministerial, provincial and municipal levels, as well as large groups. Promotion takes a unique approach, carefully selecting a poor mountainous area in contemporary China, a low administrative level, a group of local officials, and a series of primitive and authentic events that are commonplace and unremarkable. Using the backdrop of a building reshuffling as a thread, it vividly portrays a chain of dynamic pictures of the grassroots official life in contemporary China. Among them, conscience versus desire, justice versus evil, honest officials versus corrupt ones, gentlemen versus lechers—each a vivid and lifelike image, each a shocking story—allow readers to clearly see the conspiracies and crimes reflected in the sunlight on a hidden stream deep in the mountains.
This is a novel that tells the story of July 11, 2003, when the sun blazed like fire. A 40-day drought had baked the land of Qingshan into a desolate wasteland.