The sun shines on the Sanggan River--A Chinese contemporary long collection

Author: Ding Ling
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: From the founding of the People's Republic of China to 1966, China experienced a high tide of creative and publishing activities in the field of long novels. Over a decade, a large number of works were produced, among which dozens had a far-reaching impact and reached the zenith of their time. These works adhered to the principles of socialist realism, employing heartfelt enthusiasm and simple expressions to celebrate the arduous struggles and vibrant spirit of the Chinese people during different historical periods, including the War of Liberation, the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, the Liberation War, and the construction of socialism. They represented the highest achievements of long novel creation during that period and occupied an extremely important position in the history of contemporary Chinese literature. With their unique charm, they influenced generations of readers and, after being tested by time, have been passed down to this day. To present a more complete picture of the development of contemporary long novels and the state of long novel creation during that period, we have specially compiled and published the series "Collected Classics of Contemporary Chinese Long Novels."
I. The series is based on the "Selected Long Novels" published by our press in the 1950s and 1960s, as well as the "Red Classics" series from the 1990s, and aims to include as many outstanding works as possible.
II. The works in the series were published roughly between 1949 and 1965, though some multi-volume works have a longer publication process that extends beyond this timeframe.
III. Due to various reasons, some works have had multiple revised editions. For this publication, we have selected the superior versions and conducted proofreading in reference to other editions.
The Sun Shines on the Sanggan River is a long novel I wrote, with the focus on farmers and rural struggles. My foundation in rural life is not deep, and the characters in the novel are not closely tied to me. However, since I lived and fought alongside them, I love this group of people and this period of life. I want to portray them truthfully on paper and leave them for those who read my books. I did not want to portray Zhang Yumin as an impeccable hero or Cheng Ren as an outstanding peasant league chairman. They could gradually become outstanding individuals, but they could not become heroes overnight. Yet, they were indeed among the vanguard in the early stages of land reform, and such people were truly rare at that time. Later, I participated in land reform twice more; over the past two decades, the majority of my time has been spent in rural areas, where I have encountered all kinds of people, most of whom were farmers or had farming backgrounds. I have met people more progressive and remarkable than Zhang Yumin and Cheng Ren. However, from the rich reality of life, it is often the case that those who lead the way in the early stages of struggles are not always noble or flawless. But they can progress from here, becoming noble and impeccable individuals.