Life and Leisure

A writer whose heart is in the countryside

By Liu Jun (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-09-10 07:50

In the early 1970s, Jia Pingwa, who had just graduated after studying Chinese at Northwest University in Xi'an, breathed new life into the stagnant literary field after the "cultural revolution" (1966-76).

Unlike other writers struggling to break free of the shackles of ideology, Jia saw beauty in country life, penning paeans to the moon, trees, rivers and rocks.

He rose to fame in the early 1980s with portraits of his hometown in southern Shaanxi province.

Turbulence (Fu Zao, 1987), translated by renowned American professor Howard Goldblatt and awarded with the American Pegasus Prize for Literature in 1988, shows his concern for the countryside at a time when most writers were celebrating the achievements of reform and opening-up.

Nostalgia of Wolves (Huai Nian Lang, 2000) stands out for its focus on the environment. It is steeped in folklore and laments the disappearance of wolves, thanks to mankind's greed.

Qinqiang (2005), which won the 7th Mao Dun Literature Award in 2008, is a faithful portrait of the countryside in the throes of reform. Besides entertaining characters such as the narrator, Yinsheng the lunatic, and grassroots village heads struggling to do a good job, the novel captures the author's deep love for rural life as represented by Qinqiang Opera, and sadness over its disappearance.

Happy (Gao Xing, 2007), a sequel to Qinqiang, is about farmers who eke out a living collecting garbage in Xi'an. Liu Gaoxing, the main protagonist, is based largely on one of Jia's childhood friends.

(China Daily 09/10/2010 page19)