Dwelling Close to the Soil

Dwelling on the Land is a realist rural novella by Langzi Wenqing. Spanning the years from 1973 to 2025, the story takes place in the villages of Langshan, southeastern Hubei, and follows the life of its protagonist, Deng Mochen.

Deng Mochen grows up in the countryside, surrounded by the old house, the fields, and his family. From childhood, he absorbs a rural outlook rooted in the land. As the wave of migrant labor rises, he leaves home as a teenager to seek work in the city. Over the years, he moves from place to place, working in factories and repeatedly relocating, adrift in the city and experiencing the rootlessness of life in a foreign place.

In middle age, Deng Mochen witnesses the hollowing out of the countryside, the decay of the old house, and his loved ones growing old. He begins to look back on his homeland and preserve its memories through writing, while reflecting on where an individual life belongs between city and countryside. The novel suggests that dwelling on the land does not mean retreating to a pastoral life. Even when the body wanders far away, the spirit can still take root in its ancestral home. It records a generation's emotional journey of leaving home and returning amid the changes of the times.