A Hundred Acts of Life: Notes from the Mortal World

The Human World's Many Plays contains fragments of the past, tucked away in the folds of time. Love went unreturned, and fate intervened. What should never have come to this became the story's ending. Lovers were separated by death before the red candles could warm, carving “We'll meet again in the next life” into the wind of their farewell. The passion of a rebellion once set half the realm ablaze, only to die out as embers in the mire of reality. Begonias bloomed and fell, then bloomed again. The person waiting beneath the tree became a stone monument, leaving only a few lines on paper to recall a certain year's long wait... This world has never been a perfectly happy play. There is longing for what cannot be had, regret over near-victories turned to failure, and little joys and sorrows hidden in everyday life. We are all spectators, and we are all characters in the play. After a journey through life's vicissitudes, we see the world as a stage. Friend, if you too would like to find a little kinship among these many lives, why not open these pages and see how this play called “the human world” sings of every joy and sorrow? About this book: This collection of short stories brings together the works created for the first Writers' Discussion Group relay-writing event. Six writers, Wo De Cun Zai Chun Shu Yi Wai, Chi Meng Xiao Cha, Bu Jian Qiu Lai, Xiu Ni, Ruo Ye Ke Hua, and Jian Jiao Ji, took turns writing stories on themes including historical fantasy, the Republican era, and suspense.