Winter River, Morning Sun

In the 1980s, rural communities in central China still seemed to revolve around men farming and women weaving, apparently untouched by the waves of outside economic change. But beneath the surface, currents were already stirring. As the economy surged and threatened to burst its banks, the ugliness and cruelty of human nature, along with the fading warmth and growing distance of family ties, gradually came into full view.

Whatever a person's family of origin may be like, it inevitably shapes their whole life. Over the long course of a life, opportunities or disasters may deepen or lessen its influence. Yet there's no denying that in the stillness of the night, in moments of overwhelming joy or crushing sorrow, many people think of or resent those they once loved most or hated most, and the places where they once lived.