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by Xiaping Jiang (Author), Anthony Roberts (Translator)
This is a unique collection of works. It is "unique" because it vividly captures the journey of a boat, a family, and a region over nearly a century. Most Chinese people are familiar with the Tang-dynasty poet Zhang Ruoxu's poem, "Spring River in the Flower Moon Night." The setting of this work is the very region where Zhang Ruoxu once found inspiration by the waterside - the intricate waterways of Yangzhou, where the Grand Canal meets the Yangtze River. These essays not only paint a picture of the picturesque scenes we associate with the famous line from Zhang Ruoxu's poem, "In spring the river rises to meet the sea, the bright moon rises with the tide," but also delve into a life of daring on the water, battling fierce winds and waves, and the heart-pounding adventures of those living on the edge, as the saying goes: "Those who live on boats or ride horses are always tempting fate." Likewise, many are familiar with the Beijing opera A Fisherman Kills a Family, and the line, "Early in the morning, crows call as the firewood door is opened." These words call to mind the plight of boatmen from a millennium ago, of their chivalrous deeds, of Xiao En and his daughter Xiao Guiying. Ms. Jiang Xiaping's book Life on the Yangtze River can be characterized as a contemporary Xiao Guiying's symphony of praise for today's Xiao En. She paints a vivid portrait of her father, Jiang Wenlong, known as "the River-Crossing Dragon," a man of honor and bravery, revolutionary in spirit, possessing strict family values - a reincarnation of Xiao En, a hero of the Yangzhou's waterways.
