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Author: Ba Jin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1981-09-01
Features: The Family fully draws on the techniques of Dream of the Red Chamber in its artistic conception. Centered around the disintegration of a feudal family, the work consistently takes the love story between Juehui and Mingfeng, as well as the entanglements between Juxin and Ruijue and Meifeng, as the main plotlines. It skillfully weaves together thrilling events, complex scenes of daily life, as well as the customs, rituals, and social dynamics of the feudal family into a perfect whole. The work presents a rich and detailed portrayal, creating a vibrant artistic world that showcases the author's exceptional talent in handling grand narratives. The Family holds a milestone significance in the history of modern Chinese literature. The first decade of the New Literature movement in China primarily achieved success in the creation of new poetry, short stories, and essays. By the late 1920s, the long novel gradually gained momentum, producing several outstanding masterpieces such as Erosion and The Rainbow (by Mao Dun), The Philosophy of Old Zhang and Zhao Ziyu and Two Horses (by Lao She), Annihilation (by Ba Jin), and Ni Huanzhi (by Ye Shengtao). However, it was not until the early 1930s, with the emergence of The Family and the later Night (Zweig), that the creation of long novels entered a new stage of maturity and abundance. The Family established Ba Jin's in the history of the New Literature movement in China and has had a profound and lasting impact on the development of modern Chinese literature, still cherished by people today.