贾平凹 《土门》

                                     Jia Pingwa, The Earthen Gate (novel)

The Author

       One of the preeminent and bestselling authors of his generation, Jia Pingwa (born 1953) is a formidable cultural figure in contemporary China. His early stories and novels dealt with the countryside around his native Shangluo, though by the 1990s he was considering in depth the situation of migrant workers who moved to the city seeking after a better life. At the same time as his writing reached a wider audience he became increasingly outspoken, challenging the prevalent climate of censorship. Eventually, he won huge acclaim from the literary establishment as well as the public, winning the Mao Dun Literary Prize for Shaanxi Opera in 2008. He is also a much sought-after calligrapher and an artist of idiosyncratic taste.

       Earthen Gate is one of his celebrated early novels. The present collection of prose and short stories brings together choice pieces gathered from the last thirty-five years of Mr. Jia’s career. They demonstrate his ongoing fascination with modern changes in society as well as his persistent interest in traditional culture.

               The Earthen Gate – Synopsis

        Constantly cat-fighting with her shallow friend Brow, beginning correspondence courses she will never finish, and above all avoiding matrimony with her dismal fiancée Old Ran, Plum’s life putters along predictably enough. Little does she know that her day will only come around when the home she cherishes is threatened. The sprawling Western Capital already virtually encircles Benevolent Lenient Village and its residents, Plum and Brow included, are served with eviction notices. Many wait expectantly for the return of the mercurial rogue Chivalry Chen, while others hope that the sage-like Grandpa Forest Cloud with his miraculous traditional medicines can somehow keep the bulldozers at bay.

        Jia Pingwa’s novel The Earthen Gate became an instant bestseller on its publication in 1996. One of the first Chinese novels to consider seriously the impact of urbanization on those on the city fringes, it is at times achingly poignant and yet raucous in its earthy humour. 

          Keywords: Creativity, myth and traditional culture, urbanization,

          The Earthen Gate – Synopsis

           Constantly cat-fighting with her shallow friend Brow, beginning correspondence courses she will never finish, and above all avoiding matrimony with her dismal fiancée Old Ran, Plum’s life putters along predictably enough. Little does she know that her day will only come around when the home she cherishes is threatened. The sprawling Western Capital already virtually encircles Benevolent Lenient Village and its residents, Plum and Brow included, are served with eviction notices. Many wait expectantly for the return of the mercurial rogue Chivalry Chen, while others hope that the sage-like Grandpa Forest Cloud with his miraculous traditional medicines can somehow keep the bulldozers at bay.

        Jia Pingwa’s novel The Earthen Gate became an instant bestseller on its publication in 1996. One of the first Chinese novels to consider seriously the impact of urbanization on those on the city fringes, it is at times achingly poignant and yet raucous in its earthy humour.