Cold Smoke Green

Cold Smoke Green is a novel Qiong Yao completed in the spring of 1966. Its title comes from Fan Zhongyan's "Su Mu Zhe": "Blue clouds, yellow leaves, autumn colors ripple on the waves, on the waves cold smoke green." The story begins with a family fracture: nineteen-year-old Chen Yongwei watches her parents' marriage break apart and head toward divorce. Her mother, Xu Jiejun, cannot bear to let her daughter witness it all, so she sends her to stay at Green Green Farm, the country home of a friend in Puli. On first arriving, Yongwei is captivated by the mountains, trees, flowers, grass, and the scenery of Dream Lake, and she meets the Zhang family—blunt, hearty Uncle Zhang; gentle, sensitive Aunt Zhang; and three siblings of very different temperaments: the eldest, Lingxiao, steady and devoted to farming; Lingfeng, a smooth-talking, passionate college student; and Lingyun, a shy, timid daughter. As they spend time together, Lingfeng falls in love with Yongwei, but Uncle Zhang intends to match her with Lingxiao—while Lingxiao's heart belongs to Lülu, a mountain girl considered "unmarriageable." Meanwhile, Aunt Zhang and the elementary school principal Wei Bai share an old attachment neither can let go. These emotional threads intertwine and advance amid the green fields and the cold smoke over the lake, and each person's choices and concessions ultimately come back to the word "love." Qiong Yao writes the pastoral scenery with a poetic touch, and also the hesitation of young people facing love and responsibility; it is an important work for studying her early style.