The Sinking Land

A classic historical novel by Zhou Meisen, this work is the companion to his novels about fighting corruption, together forming a broad, interconnected fictional world. The old course of the Yellow River is a land both barren and bountiful, ancient and great. Countless stories that stir the soul have unfolded here over thousands of years. The five connected novellas in this collection trace the rise and fall of several coal mines on this land. They bring to life memorable characters such as Chu Baoyi, Mr. Liu San, Zhang Daren, Zhao Minquan, and He Shaoji, and recount six turbulent, tragic decades from the fifteenth year of the Guangxu reign in the Qing dynasty to the thirty-seventh year of the Republic of China. Through historical materialism, they examine feudalism, a system that ruled China for thousands of years and continues to exert a profound influence today.