Before the Storm

Name: Before the Storm
ISBN: 9787544745574

Li JierenYilin Press · ChinaSep 2015

4.2

Word count: 197K words
Chapters: 56
ISBN: 9787544745574

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Summary

Set against the social conditions of China between 1901 and 1910, the novel unfolds in a flexible, elastic narrative that presents the overlapping of mainstream culture and secular culture, reproducing the life of the period in a broader space. From the reform movement of the late Qing to the popular religious movements at the turn of the century, the novel explains, at a fairly deep level, the tremendous historical changes that modern China was facing and undergoing, and depicts the roots from which the Sichuan Railway Protection Movement grew.

Editor's review

Li Jieren's Before the Storm is the second volume of his epic historical novel series, the \"Great River Trilogy.\" Set in Chengdu, Sichuan, between 1901 and 1909, the book portrays through an in-depth depiction of a typical gentry-official family—the Hao clan—the complex ecology and violent upheaval of Chinese society on the eve of the 1911 Revolution. With a calm, restrained, detail-rich style of plain description, the author folds the grand historical process into the trickling stream of daily life: from the constitutionalist movement and the Railway Protection Movement to the fierce collision of old and new ideas, all are reflected in miniature and with authenticity at the family dinner table, in friends' social gatherings, and amid the clamor of the marketplace.\n\nAs a writer with deep historical scholarship, Li Jieren not only provides a vivid story but also constructs a \"Qingming Shanghe Tu\" of inland Chinese society in the late Qing and early Republican era. The intellectuals, merchants, officials, and ordinary townspeople he portrays all bear distinct marks of their era and region; their perplexities, struggles, and choices together weave the collective spiritual history of the nation at a historical turning point. Reading this book offers not only literary aesthetic pleasure but also deeper understanding of the distinctive \"storm gathering\" atmosphere of China's modernization process and the fragility and resilience of the society's deep structures on the eve of great change.\n\nThis Yilin Press edition is finely bound with a reliable text, providing a quality vehicle for readers to immerse themselves in this period of history. For readers who wish to go beyond simple historical narrative and understand China around the time of the 1911 Revolution through the texture of society and the depth of human nature, this book is a rare masterpiece.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers with a deep interest in modern Chinese social change and the background of the 1911 Revolution
Lovers of historical fiction who enjoy seeing the features of a great era through family narrative
Students of Sichuan regional culture and urban life in the late Qing and early Republican period
Literary readers who appreciate a calm, delicate, realistic style rich in the texture of life

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking the strongly plotted, fast-paced style of web fiction
Readers hoping for purely academic historical analysis or simplified factual accounts

Reading tips

The book can be read alongside the other two volumes of Li Jieren's \"Great River Trilogy,\" Ripples Across Stagnant Water and The Great Wave, to grasp the complete historical arc.
While reading, pay attention to the author's exquisite depiction of daily-life scenes, customs, and dialogue; this is key to understanding the atmosphere of the era.
Consulting some historical background on the late Qing constitutionalist movement and the Railway Protection Movement can deepen understanding of the characters' fates and choices.

About the publisher

Yilin Press China · Founded in 1988

Yilin Press focuses mainly on translated foreign literature. Its current catalogue of 318 titles covers common categories such as mystery and detective fiction, foreign literature, world classics, biography, and social novels. Representative books include The Complete Sherlock Holmes 2: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Pride and Prejudice, To the Lighthouse, The Great Gatsby, The Grapes of Wrath, and Lives of the Artists: Michelangelo, often presented in bilingual or English-language editions that serve both original-text reading and language learning. Its author resources include foreign writers such as Arthur Conan Doyle, Jane Austen, Virginia Woolf, and Romain Rolland, as well as translators including Li Jiazhen, Gao Fen, and Ma Ye. The catalogue also includes Chinese works such as Li Jieren's Ripples Across Stagnant Water. The press shows a concentrated publishing strength in foreign classics and bilingual readers; given limited public information, this overview is based only on catalogue data.

版权信息
前记
第一部分新潮和旧浪
一
二
三
四
五
六
七
八
九
十
十一
十二
十三
十四
第二部分下莲池畔
一
二
三
四
五
六
七
八
九
第三部分歧途上的羊
一
二
三
四
五
六
七
八
第四部分暴风雨前
一
二
三
四
五
六
七
八
九
十
十一
第五部分运动会
一
二
三
四
五
六
七

FAQ

What is the place of Before the Storm in Li Jieren's career?

The book is the pivotal middle work of Li Jieren's representative \"Great River Trilogy\" and marks the maturity of his art as a historical novelist. With a broader vision and finer brushwork, it depicts social change and has been praised by literary historians as a model of modern Chinese historical fiction.

How difficult is this book to read?

The language mixes classical and vernacular Chinese and is rich in regional flavor; there are many characters and complex relationships, so it requires some patience to enter. But once the reader adapts to its narrative rhythm, the majestic power of its social panorama and the authentic charm of its details become deeply felt.

Are the depictions of historical events in the book completely factual?

Li Jieren adhered to the principle of \"novelist's craft, historian's eye.\" Major historical events and the atmosphere of the era strive for authenticity, while specific characters and plots are artistically fictionalized on the basis of historical materials, with the aim of revealing the spiritual essence of history more profoundly rather than simply reproducing historical facts.

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About the author

Li Jieren Author · Chinese · 1891–1962

Li Jieren (1891–1962), originally named Li Jiaxiang, was a native of Chengdu, Sichuan, and a modern Chinese writer and translator of French literature. In his early years he studied and worked in France; after returning to China, he devoted himself to writing, translation, and industry, and served as vice mayor of Chengdu and vice chairman of the Sichuan Provincial Federation of Literary and Art Circles. His writings are set in Chengdu and focus on the social changes of the late Qing and early Republican periods. His representative River Trilogy—Ripples in the Stagnant Water, Before the Storm, and The Great Wave—portrays local customs and the turmoil of the times with delicate detail, combining the realistic depth of social fiction with a strong regional flavor. The collection includes 23 of his works, covering classic novels and literary collections. His parallel careers in translation and writing make him a notable figure in modern Chinese–foreign literary exchange.