In the last years of Guangxu's reign, it was raining in the south of the Yangtze River. A canal has flowed for thousands of years, nourishing the prosperity and tranquility of Furong Town, and also reflecting the decadence and undercurrents of the last days of the empire.
Lin Muyuan, who returned from studying in Japan, returned to his hometown with the blueprint of "saving the country through industry" in mind. What he faced was not only the crisis that his family's silk shop was on the verge of bankruptcy, but also the entangled old forces and the new impact from Japan. In the deep house, the grandmother is dying, the second uncle is conservative, and the third uncle is radical. A line dispute concerning the life and death of the family explodes at the Dragon Boat Festival banquet; outside the high walls, foreign capital is eyeing, industrial workers are undercurrent, and the wave of change has hit the door.
On the other side of the canal, the maid Su Mei who silently wrote in the washing room used her frozen fingers to draw strokes of knowledge on the mud. Her fate, Lin Muyuan's ideals and the rise and fall of the Lin family, were unexpectedly intertwined in the torrent of the times. New threads and old cocoons, innovation and preservation, family, country and individuals, loyalty and betrayal... Everything is involved in this endless "Jiangnan River".
This is a picture of Jiangnan society at the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China. It is an epic that describes personal struggles, family rise and fall, and the faltering start of national industry in the great era. Look at the transition between the old and the new, who drifts with the tide, who hits the water, and who ignites a spark that will never go out on the ruins of despair.
Reader comments
It's rare to come across a book that's so readable. It does not deliberately cater to the impetuousness of the market, but instead concentrates on polishing the content, and the creator's intentions are full between the lines. From the beginning, the rhythm is relaxed and moderate, with both the warmth of the characters' stories and the sparks of the collision of different characters' perspectives. After reading it, I not only gained more knowledge, but was also moved by the attitude conveyed in the book. It is a surprise on my recent reading list. [Praise]
When I opened this book, I was attracted by the sincerity and depth between the lines. Whether it is the delicate narrative style or the unique point of view analysis, it always touches people's hearts inadvertently, making people gain resonance and strength from reading. After the book is closed, the aftertaste is long. It is a masterpiece worth reading repeatedly and cherishing in the heart. [Already planted][Bookshelf plus one][Like][Like][Like]
It's rare to come across a book that's so readable. It does not deliberately cater to the impetuousness of the market, but instead concentrates on polishing the content, and the creator's intentions are full between the lines. From the beginning, the rhythm is relaxed and moderate, with both the warmth of the characters' stories and the sparks of the collision of different characters' perspectives. After reading it, I not only gained more knowledge, but was also moved by the attitude conveyed in the book. It is a surprise on my recent reading list. [Praise]
When I opened this book, I was attracted by the sincerity and depth between the lines. Whether it is the delicate narrative style or the unique point of view analysis, it always touches people's hearts inadvertently, making people gain resonance and strength from reading. After the book is closed, the aftertaste is long. It is a masterpiece worth reading repeatedly and cherishing in the heart. [Already planted][Bookshelf plus one][Like][Like][Like]
Wonderful classic and powerful. Super good book.