Trees: A Dictionary of the Countryside

曹文生Northern Literature and Art Publishing House (Beifang Wenyi Chubanshe) · ChinaJan 2020

Rating 3.5
Word count
101K words
Chapters
45
ISBN
9787531742951

Tags

Essays and Miscellany Rural PredicamentSocial ObservationFamily BondsChildhood MemoriesFamily BondsNostalgia WritingPlain StyleRural MemoryCultural ChangeFolk Customs

Summary

In a warm, unhurried voice, the author recalls the village life he remembers: a happy childhood, treasured objects, and the family members bound to him by blood. He also indirectly reveals some of the problems rural areas commonly face in our time. The book presents the real state of today's countryside and some of its awkwardness; while recounting the beauty of childhood village life and its plain traditional ways, it also lays bare the conflicts felt by the author and by the younger generation—on one hand, attachment to the land and to family; on the other, the wish to pursue a grand future. Whether to leave the old home behind for the city or stay and hold to a traditional way of life is a question more and more young people are being made to consider.

Editor's review

Tree: A Village Dictionary is a collection of essays by the writer Cao Wensheng, drawn from his native place. Using "trees" as a thread, the author strings together fragments of village memory; each piece is like an entry in a dictionary, closely depicting the scenes, people, and changes of the eastern Henan plain. The writing is quiet and poetic, and beneath its apparently plain narration lie deep reflection on and recollection of a vanishing agrarian civilization and rural ethics. It is less a rousing declaration of nostalgia than a restrained spiritual walk turned inward. Cao Wensheng's prose is spare and polished, skilled at catching the glimmer of detail—the stance of an old locust tree, the lingering warmth of an ancient well, the silence of a village neighbor—images that together build a "spiritual homeland" both concretely felt and beyond time and place. For readers weary of the fast-food culture of the city, this book offers a slow, contemplative reading experience; its value lies not only in its literary record of rural life but in the way it touches the nerve of "roots" and "belonging" that modern people commonly feel.

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Reading tips

  1. Read in a relatively quiet setting, giving yourself an uninterrupted stretch of time
  2. Try slowing your pace to savor the author's plain, precise rendering of scenes and people
  3. Afterward, you might recall or record a "hometown dictionary" entry of your own

About the publisher

Northern Literature and Art Publishing House (Beifang Wenyi Chubanshe) China · Founded in 1961

Northern Literature and Art Publishing House focuses on contemporary and modern literary and artistic works, literary theory, and translations of foreign literature, while also covering categories such as history, popular science, Eastern philosophy, and world classics. Its collection includes 737 titles, with representative publications ranging from traditional Chinese classics such as Records of the Grand Historian, The Exploitation of the Works of Nature, and The Analects to foreign literary works including the complete classic plays of Shakespeare, Balzac's Old Goriot and Eugénie Grandet (in celebrated translations by Fu Lei), and The Complete Sherlock Holmes. Its author resources span classical figures such as Sima Qian, Song Yingxing, and Confucius, foreign writers such as Shakespeare and Balzac, and translators such as Zhu Shenghao and Fu Lei. The press combines the transmission of classics with an orientation toward general reading, developing a distinctive profile in both the editing of traditional texts and the translation of foreign literature. Public information is limited, so the above emphasizes the publishing profile reflected in the books held in the collection.

Contents

  1. 版权信息
  2. 第一辑 植物笔记
  3. 故乡的野菜
  4. 树，一部关于乡村的词典
  5. 一棵树的编年史
  6. 植物笔记
  7. 与蒿草为邻
  8. 树的回忆
  9. 故乡“草”书
  10. 孤独的白菜
  11. 质朴的萝卜
  12. 植物书
  13. 植物日志
  14. 第二辑 动物映象
  15. 牛，乡村的书简
  16. 狗这一辈子
  17. 篱笆、女人和狗
  18. 动物映象
  19. 夜晚，一头驴的背影
  20. 对一只鸡的定义
  21. 羊群与喜鹊
  22. 乡野书
  23. 对一头猪的臆想
  24. 走失的蝉
  25. 故乡的麻雀
  26. 鼠，乡村的逃亡者
  27. 卑微的生命
  28. 第三辑 物之轻语
  29. 孤独的稻草人
  30. 被记忆淋湿的器皿
  31. 一些明亮的火焰
  32. 辘轳、女人和井
  33. 房子，乡村的胎记
  34. 母亲的灶台
  35. 布鞋
  36. 石头·剪子·布
  37. 清露白霜
  38. 露，民间的净水
  39. 暗色，草木灰
  40. 一个人的果园
  41. 父亲的麦田
  42. 故乡的棉花地
  43. 九格之窗
  44. 回眸门楼
  45. 以石为名

FAQ

Is this book a novel or an essay collection? It is an essay collection, made up of pieces that stand alone yet connect to one another, organized in the form of a "dictionary."
Is the content too personal and nostalgic? The author does start from personal experience and memory, but his observations and reflections are universal, exploring home, change, memory, and other common human themes—beyond mere personal nostalgia.
Is this book difficult to read? The prose itself is graceful and plain, with no barrier to understanding. Its emotional tone, however, is quiet and inward, requiring some patience and a receptive mood to resonate with and appreciate its flavor.

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About the author

曹文生 Author

Cao Wensheng is a writer known for his essays and miscellaneous prose. Public information about him is currently limited, and a complete account of his life has not yet been made available. The library holds three of his works: Trees, a Dictionary of the Countryside; The Out-of-Print Nostalgia; and The Ferry of Time, all classified as essays and miscellaneous writings. Judging from these titles, his writing often revolves around rural life, memories of nostalgia, and the passage of time. He tends to draw emotion and reflection from trees, local scenery, and everyday details, and his prose has a lyrical, nostalgic quality. His essays attend to individual experience while also reflecting an attachment to one's native place and tradition, showing a fairly consistent concern with rural themes. Because related introductions are scarce, his full body of work and literary influence remain to be further understood, and the existing works may serve as a starting point for recognizing his style.