Rooted in the Land

Name: Rooted in the Land
ISBN: 9787895350106

陈业基Jul 2025

3.3

Word count: 199 words
Chapters: 116
ISBN: 9787895350106

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Summary

This book selects 114 essays the author published in local newspapers and periodicals. Most recount his personal life and work experiences and feelings: hard memories from adolescence, trivialities full of domestic warmth, a hobby snatched during work hours, and the pleasure of cycling through beautiful villages after retirement. In plain prose he writes about hometown matters, hometown scenery, and hometown people, reflecting the tremendous changes there and thereby celebrating the good life of our era.

Editor's review

These 114 essays read like slices of life clipped from local newspapers, loosely arranged by time and theme, with no sense of pressure in the reading. Chen Yeji's tone is plain—no showing off, no sentimentality. He does not dramatize hardship when writing of his adolescent struggles, nor magnify warmth when writing of domestic trivialities; he lets the details speak for themselves. The book contains both a hobby snatched during work hours and observations from cycling through beautiful villages after retirement, two threads interwoven into the life trajectory of an ordinary person across several decades. The value of these writings lies not in literary refinement but in authenticity—one person recording his hometown's people, scenery, and events in a plain way, while mirroring local social change. Suitable for bedside or coffee-table dipping; each piece is short, and there is no rush to turn to the next, letting the plain narration linger a while.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy regional-life essays and local life
Readers interested in retirement life and cycling observations
Readers seeking resonance with ordinary life in short essays
Readers with newspaper-reading habits who prefer plain prose

Not a good fit for

Pure-literature readers seeking literary technique and linguistic experimentation
Readers expecting continuous plot and dramatic conflict

Reading tips

Read by thematic groups, e.g., childhood memories first, then retirement cycling
Pause briefly after each piece and jot a short note relating it to your own experience
Can serve as commuting or bedtime reading, one or two pieces at a time
When reading about hometown changes, compare them with changes in your own hometown

版权信息
前言
祠堂学校杂记
故乡的小木船
梦清溪
牧童的故事
溪边的孩子
稻秆散记
那狗肉煲
那鱼糟
那“处”揸锅肉
不忘“番剐锉”
家中那把“鸡瘸”
下室那座土磨
竹缆
谷担
“布黎”筐
割草“缭”
篓席
在农忙假的日子里
“光忘”蛋
“火通”记
我唱万泉河
一碗豆腐脑
那一年种红萍
儿女在外
家养鹩哥
舞在广场
仙人掌
小泉
住在花园
住上高楼
单车的故事
花赋
叫声“哥”唤声“麦”好亲热
酒祭
“老醉”阿爸
我爸和他的“厚皮班”
我爸是党员
老妈，愿您下辈子还做我妈
阿母的鸡啼饭
老妈的“看面镜”
老妈带我去“行村”
娶了个“文盲”妻
阿爹
三叔
堂伯陈世荣
故乡的古榕
记忆中的加浪塘
南澹溪
溪口
老家那座桥
南忱村记事
老家古井
破犁洋
祖公岭
双发岭
侬室伙联先
狗屎梁
记忆中的鸡母塘
家乡的古塔
竹山·裕山
莲塘追梦
去县城
“塔上”记忆
东关古墟
竹山溪
湓溪
“七星伴月”的夜晚
石合钓记
东红湖印象
合水小记
钓在万泉河
去市
双沟溪
溪子
上街
下街
嘉积的街道
嘉积的广场
日出万泉河
曲溪
龙池港觅踪
走进雅洞村
骑行田头村
排岭
漫步美岭湖
海边的早晨
游珊瑚湾
绿美大路坡
沙美秋思
沙美行
登石碧岭
观红石滩
莫村行
排港行
龙湾看海
石砪洞小记
仙窟行
九曲湿地行
雨中观瀑布
龙虎滩，我来了
春节加脑行
参观九所村
去阳江
走东平
毛公山观赏记
怕吊公
同年婆
认识“红色”人
媛麦
认识颜业明
队长公
贵公
梅嫂
锦爹

FAQ

Is this book suitable for reading in one sitting?

The book contains 114 essays, each short and independent, better suited for dipping into than reading straight through. Reading it all at once may make the plain narration feel repetitive; two or three pieces at a time, with room to savor them, gives a more relaxed experience.

Can readers without rural-life experience get into it?

The book is about personal life experiences and family matters; though set against a hometown backdrop, the emotional experiences are universal. Readers without rural experience can equally find resonance in pieces on hard memories, domestic warmth, and retirement life, so there is no need to worry about a background gap.

Is there much about cycling in the book?

From the materials, cycling through beautiful villages after retirement is one part of the book's content, alongside adolescent memories, family life, and work hobbies. The cycling-related pieces are scattered throughout rather than gathered into a single section, so readers can pick and choose by table of contents.

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About the author

陈业基 Author

Public information about Chen Yeji is limited. What can be confirmed at present is that he is a writer whose work Rooted in the Soil (Gen Zhi Xiang Tu) is classified as prose and miscellaneous writings. Judging from the title and genre, this prose collection turns its attention to rural life, and its subject matter likely revolves around village scenery, everyday people and events, and an attachment to the land. Prose of this kind usually takes personal observation and feeling as its thread, with a plain and natural style that values the close observation and appreciation of life's details rather than grand narrative or theoretical exposition. In this single work, the writing tends toward grounded record and lyric expression, allowing readers to sense the weight of rural life through concrete scenes. Since only one work is held in the collection and no reliable records exist for his birth year, native place, or profession, this note makes no speculation and describes only the subject matter and style of the work itself.