The World of a Single Lamp

龚静染Sichuan Literature and Art Publishing House · ChinaSep 2026

Rating 3.5
Word count
133K words
Chapters
44
ISBN
9787541160639

Tags

Documentary Literature National ProjectUltra-high Voltage ProjectPower ConstructionTechnological InnovationAcross ProvincesBuilders' PortraitGreen EnvironmentFrontline InterviewsProject ChronicleDocumentary Narrative

Summary

This is a work of reportage. It documents in detail the entire process of the "New Three Direct Current" ultra-high-voltage project—from its inception and approval to construction and completion—providing a comprehensive record of this super power project spanning five provinces and multiple regions. The author conducts in-depth interviews at the project sites with designers, project managers, and construction workers, vividly and artistically recreating the full construction process and telling compelling stories about construction management, engineering technology, construction safety, and environmental protection, making this an outstanding work about Sichuan's State Grid workers striving to realize the Chinese Dream.

Editor's review

The World of a Single Lamp turns its attention to the "New Three Direct Current" ultra-high-voltage project, using reportage to document the entire process of a super power project spanning five provinces and multiple locations, from initiation and approval to construction and completion. The author, Gong Jingran, went deep into the project sites, interviewing designers, managers, and frontline builders, transforming specialized content such as engineering technology, construction safety, and environmental protection into readable stories of people and places. The book's value lies not in piling up data but in letting readers see the concrete people behind "electricity coming from afar": who erects towers in the deep mountains, who coordinates interprovincial affairs, who makes trade-offs between environmental protection and construction schedules. The narrative balances documentary rigor with literary quality, suitable for readers interested in infrastructure, energy construction, and Sichuan's development issues. It should be read not as a technical manual but as an on-site record of collaboration and perseverance. Some engineering terms require patience, but the overall narrative has a clear thread; reading it through yields a well-rounded understanding of ultra-high-voltage engineering.

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Reading tips

  1. Start with the table of contents and preface to understand the basic outline of the "New Three Direct Current" project, then move into specific chapters.
  2. When encountering engineering terms, skip them for now and focus on the people and on-site stories; return to the technical background after finishing.
  3. Read in the order of project stages to better understand the complete logic from approval to completion.
  4. Use a map to mark the five-province route to enhance the spatial sense of this cross-regional project.

About the publisher

Sichuan Literature and Art Publishing House China · Founded in 1984

Sichuan Literature and Art Publishing House is a professional literary and art publishing institution. It mainly publishes books on contemporary and modern literature, foreign literature, poetry and prose, music and art, and literary theory. Judging from the books in the database, the house places considerable emphasis on classic works and foreign literature. Representative titles include Lu Xun's Call to Arms and Dawn Blossoms Plucked at Dusk, Lao She's Camel Xiangzi, Xiao Hong's The Story of Hulan River, J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, William Shakespeare's Hamlet, and Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha. Its translator resources include Deng Jiawan, Shi Zhongge, Du Yunci, and Zhu Shenghao. Common categories include social fiction, classic works, foreign literature, world classics, literary appreciation, and classical poetry, reflecting a publishing profile that balances Chinese and foreign literary classics with literary appreciation.

Contents

  1. 版权信息
  2. 引子
  3. 一、群山之间：一盏灯的情怀
  4. 布拖山上的雪
  5. 西电东送的壮歌
  6. 不眠之夜的访谈
  7. 书生情怀
  8. 风雨中的输电人生
  9. 二、百年沧桑：一盏灯的岁月
  10. 百年电力沧桑史
  11. 走出海外的电力人
  12. 中国来到特高压时代
  13. 水起大凉山
  14. 三、穿云破雾：一盏灯的道路
  15. 工程考察小分队
  16. 临战粮草计
  17. 在深山中亲历拆迁
  18. 遭遇“崇山峻岭”
  19. 疫情突袭，他们逆袭
  20. 四、苦尽甘来：一盏灯的人生
  21. 家在远方
  22. “忙啊！”：父亲的愧疚
  23. 行走乌蒙间
  24. 青春与银线做伴
  25. 塔下探访
  26. 五、播撒爱心：一盏灯的温暖
  27. 待到苹果秋收时
  28. 与物联网共舞
  29. 马铃声声：特殊的运输
  30. 雅砻江边修桥人
  31. 来自光明村的一封信
  32. 六、坚强挺立：一盏灯的守护
  33. 重装越岭：每一寸山道
  34. 刀背梁上
  35. 异乡“远征军”
  36. 现场为王的“教授”
  37. 走进安全体验馆
  38. 让科技之翼穿云破雾
  39. 七、情满大地：一盏灯的凝望
  40. 驻守一线的博士们
  41. 工地之花和两只鱼缸
  42. 工程中的“火眼金睛”
  43. 飞越苍茫群山
  44. 不破楼兰终不还

FAQ

Can I understand this book without a power-industry background? Yes. The author focuses on interviews and on-site stories, with technical content appearing as background rather than as a professional manual. General readers can follow the people and project stages to grasp the main storyline; occasional terms do not hinder overall understanding. For deeper study, consult basic knowledge of ultra-high-voltage systems on your own.
Is this book mainly about the project or about people? Both, but it lands on people. The process of project initiation, approval, construction, and completion is the skeleton; the experiences and choices of designers, managers, and builders are the flesh and blood. Readers can understand both the full picture of the project and the real conditions of specific people under interprovincial collaboration, safety construction, and environmental requirements.
Is it suitable as study or discussion material for an organization? It suits groups that need to discuss topics such as major-project organization, cross-regional collaboration, and safety management. The book covers practical content including management, construction safety, and environmental protection, and can be read as a case study, but it should be used in light of each organization's own circumstances and not taken directly as operational guidelines.

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About the author

龚静染 Author

Gong Jingran is a writer about whom limited public information is available, yet her existing works clearly show a sustained interest in history and local experience. Six of her books are included here, spanning essays and miscellaneous writings, documentary literature, modern poetry, and historical reading. Her subjects range widely: she has written about the history of the salt industry and about figures such as Li Jieren; she traces the changes in the Mabian border region from the late sixteenth century to the mid-twentieth century, and offers contemporary observations in A New Chronicle of the Border Town. Other titles include The Divine Tree of the Great Ming and The World of a Single Lamp. Taken together, her writing often takes historical sources as its backbone and essayistic prose as its flesh, moving between local-gazetteer detail and the narration of individual fates, seeking to restore a felt warmth to border regions, saltworks, and bygone people and events. Her work should appeal to readers interested in Southwest China's history and documentary writing.