Full breasts and plump buttocks (Supplementary and Revised Edition) (Supplementary and Revised Edition)

Author: Mo Yan
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-10-01
Features: Totem of Life and Call of the Wild! Mo Yan's classic work vying for the Nobel Prize in Literature, which was once banned for five years due to controversy. This edition features an 80,000-character supplement by Mo Yan himself, accompanied by 24 full-color illustrations hand-drawn by renowned artist Wu Guanying, adding vibrancy to the masterpiece. Other Works by Mo Yan:
- Life and Fatigue (Mo Yan's epoch-making epic)
- Big Breasts and Wide Hips (Revised and Expanded Edition) (Signed and Rare Edition by Mo Yan)
- Mo Yan's Best: White Cotton (Signed and Rare Edition by Mo Yan)
- Mo Yan's Best: Forty-One Guns
- Mo Yan's Best: Sandalwood Punishment
- Mo Yan's Best: The Kingdom of Wine
- Mo Yan's Best: Joy (Signed and Rare Edition by Mo Yan)
- Mo Yan's Best: Reunion with Comrades (Signed and Rare Edition by Mo Yan)
- Mo Yan's Best: The Ox (Signed and Rare Edition by Mo Yan)
- Mo Yan's Best: Building the Road (Signed and Rare Edition by Mo Yan)
- Mo Yan's Best: Red Locusts (Signed and Rare Edition by Mo Yan)
In the novel, through the mother, she painstakingly and arduously raises one child after another, viewing Shangguan Jintong as equally important as her own life. The intention behind this is to illustrate that humans are always the most precious in the universe, and life holds undeniable significance, being the very essence. The propagation and continuation of life (as embodied by Shangguan Jintong's importance and favor) naturally carry unparalleled significance. The transmission and inheritance of life are the source of humanity's eternal existence. Everything in the universe, because of the existence of life, demonstrates its own value and meaning. The novel reveals, in this sense, that humans are not only the subject of history but also the subject of beauty. The continuation and inheritance of life are what are celebrated. A universe and world devoid of life, whether beautiful or ugly, pure or dirty, base or noble, no longer hold meaning. Thus, we come to understand the true meaning of the I Chuan saying, "The great virtue of heaven and earth is life." The depth of the novel or the author's profound insight lies in embedding this seemingly simple yet universally profound truth within the mother's relentless struggle to survive and preserve her lineage with her children. Consequently, the creator of life—the mother—undoubtedly deserves respect and praise. The mother is selfless, love, devotion, and the carrier of life. Sincere respect and gratitude for the mother also reflect humanity's ultimate reverence and love for life. From this, we can perhaps see the author's maternal consciousness, or perhaps female consciousness, playing a dominant role in the novel. While men may create social history, it is the mother, in her primal female form, who creates the history of life—or human history. Here, it seems to reflect the author's deep-seated Oedipal complex, and Shangguan Jintong, as an embodiment of the author's ideological consciousness, finds emotional resonance in his attachment to breast milk—the "proof of lactation"—which stems from the author's own complex.
In 1997, Big Breasts and Wide Hips won China's highest literary prize, the Grand Prize, with a reward of one hundred thousand yuan. The book had a broad impact on readers and also sparked significant controversy. It was subsequently translated into foreign languages, including Japan, Vietnam, Italy, and others. This edition is a newly supplemented version, adding eighty thousand more words to the original, further elaborating on storylines that were previously left untold, making it richer than the old edition. The design and layout are also masterfully executed by Wu Guanying, a renowned artist and the former head of the Book Design Department at Tsinghua University.
The novel fervently praises the greatness, simplicity, and selflessness of the primal creator of life—the mother—and the unparalleled significance of the continuation of life (as manifested in the reproduction and propagation of "the species"). Amidst this life cycle, the smoke of history and war lingers, presenting a realistic and unbiased portrayal of a period in history.