The Boat on Rivers and Seas

王月鹏Baihua Literature and Art Publishing House · ChinaJul 2026

Rating 3.5
Word count
126K words
Chapters
15
ISBN
9787530693032

Tags

Essays and Miscellany Man and NatureOcean WritingNature WritingPersonal FateSense of FateHumanistic CareSpiritual QuestEcological ReflectionReflective EssayRiver and Sea Imagery

Summary

This manuscript is Wang Yuepeng's fifth collection of essays on maritime themes, comprising ten recent pieces that are relatively independent yet interconnected. Through the encounters and choices of "a boat on rivers and seas," it writes of the individual's confrontation with the world's complexity and sense of fate. As a work of nature writing, A Boat on Rivers and Seas does not stop at natural contemplation and ecological reflection, but turns from the "sea" of the natural world to look back at the "sea of people" in social reality, observing human existence in a new era and new social history, attending to the ways of the world and the human heart, to individual circumstances amid the pulse of the times, and writing in literary form of human struggle and perseverance in the face of river and sea storms and social change.

Editor's review

A Boat on Rivers and Seas is Wang Yuepeng's fifth collection of essays on maritime themes, comprising ten new pieces. Taking the image of "a boat on rivers and seas" as its thread, the work writes of the individual's complex predicament and sense of fate in confronting the world. It offers both nature writing's contemplation of the sea and ecological reflection, yet does not confine itself to nature alone, turning instead from the sea of nature to the "sea of people" in social reality, observing human existence and inner turbulence in a new era. The pieces are relatively independent yet interconnected, with a deep, submerged language and meticulous thought, suited to slow reading. The writing on individual struggle and perseverance amid river and sea storms and social change allows readers to find resonance and reflection in the overlap of nature and human affairs, and will appeal to readers interested in essay writing, nature literature, and the spiritual condition of contemporary people.

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Reading tips

  1. Read in the order of the pieces, noting the recurring character images and emotional threads that echo between essays
  2. Pause briefly after each piece, noting sentences or questions that move you
  3. Use the contrast between the sea of nature and the sea of human affairs as a reading thread, appreciating the author's turns
  4. Suited to quiet hours and slow reading, one or two pieces at a time, avoiding hurried page-turning

About the publisher

Baihua Literature and Art Publishing House China · Founded in 1958

Founded in August 1958 and restructured into Baihua Literature and Art Publishing House (Tianjin) Co., Ltd. in 2009, Baihua Literature and Art Publishing House is known for publishing essays and fiction, and it hosts the journals Fiction Monthly and Essays. Its 757 titles in the library span classic works, culture, folk literature, essays and miscellaneous writings, foreign literature, and general biography. They include Lao She's Camel Xiangzi, Zhu Ziqing's selected essays and Classic Essays, Fu Lei's Twenty Lectures on Masterpieces of World Art, and a Chinese translation of Ryūnosuke Akutagawa's Rashōmon, as well as cultural and performing-arts titles such as the illustrated Biography of Liang Qichao and A Dictionary of Crosstalk. Its authors include Lao She, Zhu Ziqing, Wu Qichang, Fu Lei, Xue Baokun, Gao Yucong, Wei Zhiqiang, and Ryūnosuke Akutagawa.

Contents

  1. 版权信息
  2. 上篇
  3. 鲸落
  4. 舟在
  5. 白色火焰
  6. 出鱼
  7. 城市背影
  8. 另一束光
  9. 在海岬
  10. 海水与火焰
  11. 月光下的脸
  12. 夜海
  13. 下篇
  14. 海上通讯
  15. 后记

FAQ

Is this book a novel or an essay collection? It is an essay collection, comprising ten recent maritime-themed pieces that are relatively independent yet interconnected. There is no need to expect a novelistic plot; it is better suited to careful reading piece by piece, appreciating the echoes between essays.
Can I understand it without having read the author's previous maritime-themed works? Yes. Each piece stands on its own and does not depend on earlier plots, so new readers can enter directly. If, after reading, you are interested in the author's maritime writing trajectory, it is not too late to look back at previous works.
Does the "sea" in the book mainly write of nature or of people? Both. The work begins from natural contemplation and ecological reflection, then turns from the "sea" of the natural world to the "sea of people" in social reality, attending to individual existence and perseverance amid the pulse of the times; it should therefore not be read merely as landscape essays.

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About the author

王月鹏 Author

Wang Yuepeng is known primarily as a writer of essays and cultural prose. Publicly available information about him is limited, and details such as his place of origin, educational background, and professional positions are not recorded in the available sources. Four works can currently be confirmed: Haishang Shu (A Book of the Sea), Yantai Zhuan: The Here and There of the Peninsula, Zhou zai Jianghai (A Boat on Rivers and Seas), and Huang Bohai Ji (Notes on the Yellow and Bohai Seas). These works focus largely on the sea, the peninsula, and local culture, while also touching on everyday experience and humanistic observation connected with travel on rivers and seas. Yantai Zhuan uses the approach of a city biography to trace the temporal and spatial contours of a coastal city, while the other works turn their attention to coastal scenery, fishing and navigation life, and regional historical memory. His writing generally falls within essays and cultural prose, emphasizing detailed presentation of local experience and personal reflection, and shows a relatively consistent focus on maritime subjects and regional writing.