Articles tagged with: Shen Congwen

Shen Congwen is one of the greatest Chinese writers of the pre-war period. Hence the importance of the recent release in France of “The Journey to Xiang and other short stories”(1) that illustrates the talent of the writer in various styles.

His life and career are totally atypical. His family is a blend of the dominant Han population and the Miao and Tujia minorities in the beautiful region of south-central China, Hunan. He enlisted in… Lire la suite

The release a few weeks ago of a book by Shen Congwen (which will be discussed later): “The journey to Xiang and other short stories” (1), has led me to read again his translated works and also to discover a remarkable book, “Four sisters of Hofei “by Annping Chin. She was born in Taiwan in 1950, a professor in the History Department at Yale University and the wife of Jonathan Spence, the well-known… Lire la suite

It is in Fenghuang that the famous writer Shen Congwen (1902-1988) spent his youth. This small town in western Hunan Province (South China), is considered a unique architecture heritage, being considered for the World Heritage List of theUnesco.

An unsettled border zone:

In China, the Han are 92% of the population. Fifty-six “ethnic minorities” total 110 million of which 9 million people are Miao; with the Tujia, the Miao represent an important share… Lire la suite

With Lao She and Lu Xun, Shen Congwen is without doubt one of the great writers of the last century, but for Shen Congwen, no further translations, he has to be discovered by a new generation.

 A family of military tradition:

An illustrious grandfather, who was general, a father who was a military doctor but never at home. Miao by his grandmother and Tujia by his mother, he claims that he is a Han  but… Lire la suite