Using chickens as his subject, the author tells the story through the fictional protagonist Gu Qiuming, along with the beautiful Li Shengnan, his goddaughter Yao Chunhua, and many other characters caught in tragicomic circumstances. Through a flashback narrative that is at once fairly realistic and objective, wildly exaggerated, and tinged with the fantastical, the author draws on his own experiences raising chickens. Without losing its emotional truth, the story spins out a series of tangled tales that are by turns hilarious and heartbreaking. It explores the interdependence of humanity and nature and their shared qualities, while focusing on the many hardships and helpless choices faced by people at the bottom of society as they struggle to survive and improve their lot. It also offers a critical exposure of certain things happening around us that are out of step with the development of our times. Through the chicken's brief life and a totem-like portrayal of the bird, the work is a pleasure to read while also bringing a delightfully absurd, laugh-and-cry quality to the story. The two aspects complement each other. Or perhaps it is like One Thousand and One Nights and the Greek myths: we polish the lamp and open the magic box, never knowing whether Aladdin or Pandora will emerge.
