Shen Congwen's Prose -- Students Reading Classics

Author: Shen Congwen
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-05-01
Features: Shen Congwen was exceptionally intelligent from a young age with an extraordinary memory. At the age of 6, he entered a private academy, and at 12, he enrolled in the Model National School (now Wenchangge Primary School). Due to his love for truancy, he was sent to a local preparatory military training class as a supplementary soldier shortly after graduating from primary school. At 15, he left his hometown and joined a native troops unit, drifting along the Yuan River for five years. That period was the darkest era of China's warlord rule, where he lived among soldiers, farmers, small artisans, and other diverse lower-class individuals, experiencing firsthand their miserable lives and witnessing the execution of innocent civilians by the army. After enduring unimaginable hardships, he gained insight into the good and bad aspects of life, customs, and folk culture in a small corner of China, laying a rich foundation for his later literary creations. This collection of essays is mostly selected from Shen Congwen's prose writings from the 1930s and 1940s. Among them, his works written and published in the 1930s—Autobiography of Shen Congwen, Xiangxi Notes, and Xiangxi—are his representative prose works. Autobiography of Shen Congwen recounts the author's life journey in the 20 years before he left Xiangxi. Xiangxi Notes records the observations and experiences during his return trip to Xiangxi in winter 1934 to visit his mother. Xiangxi was written and published in 1938 when the author passed through Xiangxi en route to Yunnan, primarily introducing the scenery, produce, customs, and folk culture of Xiangxi. The latter two works are closely related in content and complement each other, reflecting the author's concern for the lives of the people in Xiangxi and his reflections on social issues. They concentrate on Shen Congwen's unique understanding of life realities and embody the distinctive style of his prose art.