Library

This book collects two novels, "Border Town" and "Long River", and is Shen Congwen's most representative novel collection. "Border Town" is set in Chadong, a border town in the 1930s at the junction of Sichuan and Hunan. It depicts the unique customs and customs of western Hunan with a beautiful style that combines lyric poetry and essays. It uses the pure love story of the boatman girl Cuicui to show the kindness and beauty of human nature. "The Long River" was written by the author after he returned to western Hunan in 1937 and lived in Yuanshui for about four months. It tells the story of the joys and sorrows of the people living on both sides of the Chen River in western Hunan when Chinese society experienced historic changes and the turmoil radiated to this remote place. The book is accompanied by more than 200 photos taken by photographer Zhuo Ya, which reproduces the graceful customs of Xiangxi. It is a vivid restoration and portrayal of the customs and people's lives and work in Xiangxi written by Shen Congwen. It is also a true record of the changes and development of Xiangxi's cultural scenery over the past decades.

"A Place to Learn History" collects essays and novels related to Shen Congwen's own experiences. Among them, Shen Congwen's prose autobiography narrates Shen Congwen's transformation and growth from childhood to adolescence, including his innocent and curious rural childhood, as well as his ambitious and bumpy youth career. Among them, novels about military life include "The Soldiers" and "The Story of Que Ming", etc. These works were born out of the author's real military travel life in his early years. He incorporated war, poverty, ignorance and other realistic factors into these works, with a more distinctive critical color. Among them are novels and essays about family life in adolescence, including "The Past", "Rose and Nine Sisters", etc. In the short and concise narratives, the author uses the language and warmth to restore life to create the characters' distinctive personalities. This book is accompanied by more than 100 photos carefully taken by photographer Zhuo Ya over more than 30 years. These images are a vivid restoration and portrayal of the customs and people's lives and work in Western Hunan described by Shen Congwen. They are also a true record of the changes and development of Western Hunan's cultural landscape over the past decades.

This book is one of the series "Shen Congwen's Stories of Western Hunan". This book includes Shen Congwen's short and medium-sized novels such as "Xiao Xiao", "Qiaoxiu and Dongsheng", "Unexpected Legend", "Mountain Ghost", "Wang's Wife" and "Company Commander", as well as prose such as "Changde's Boat", "Yuanling People", "Several Wharfs in the Baihe River Basin" and "Phoenix". The novels among them represent Shen Congwen's transformation from the impressionistic writing of early rural reminiscences to the in-depth depiction of realism, demonstrating the theme of "not going against human nature", that is, complying with natural human nature. The prose works were obtained after he returned to Xiangxi to analyze the current situation and think about it. They show the bright and unsophisticated scenery of Xiangxi and are also full of the author's hidden worries and philosophical thinking about life. This book is accompanied by photos taken by photographer Zhuo Ya over more than 30 years, vividly restoring the characters and story scenes written by Shen Congwen. These images truly represent a world in western Hunan where primitiveness and mystery are intertwined, and brutality and beauty coexist.