The Bamboo Sedan Chair

Xiao HongJun 2025

3.9

Word count: 15K words
Chapters: 8

Summary

Huagan is a fascinating piece of writing that uses the Yellow River donkey and the Sichuan sedan-chair bearer as images to sketch the survival of ordinary people during the War of Resistance. The Yellow River donkey carries military grain across the wilderness, and the Sichuan sedan-chair bearer climbs under load on steep mountain paths; both bear the weight of the times with bent bodies. Through conversations with the bearers, the author reveals their plain patriotism.

The collection also includes several fine pieces, among them "Untitled," "The Completion of a Railway," "A Letter," and "Skeleton and Soul," all of which embody the spiritual core that to love one's country is to love one's family and one's fellow people, and that national awakening is the spirit.

Editor's review

Huagan juxtaposes two images—the Yellow River donkey and the Sichuan sedan-chair bearer—to depict how ordinary people survived under the weight of the times during the War of Resistance: the donkey carries military grain across the wilderness, the bearer climbs under load on steep mountain paths, and their bent bodies and dogged steps form a kind of silent endurance. Xiao Hong's touch is understated, yet in conversations with the bearers she naturally brings out a plain patriotism, grounding the spiritual core that "to love one's country is to love one's family and one's fellow people" in specific people rather than empty slogans. The collection also includes "Untitled," "The Completion of a Railway," "A Letter," and "Skeleton and Soul," pieces varied in subject but sharing one pulse: all start from everyday experience and point toward national awakening and individual dignity. The writing is short and taut, emotionally restrained with lasting force; it suits reading piece by piece in spare moments and serves as a fine primer on Xiao Hong's essay style. As you read, notice how she substitutes dialogue and detail for lyricism—that is precisely why these texts repay rereading.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who like Xiao Hong's essays and want her short documentary prose
Those interested in lower-class life and the spiritual condition of the people during the War of Resistance
Literature lovers who need short models for learning plain description and dialogue writing
Readers who prefer to read in short pieces during commutes or before sleep rather than follow a long continuous narrative

Not a good fit for

Readers who expect full-length novel plots and strong storytelling
Those who want only Xiao Hong's major long works such as Tales of Hulan River and have limited interest in short collections
Readers who prefer ornate diction or strong lyricism and are unaccustomed to restrained plain description

Reading tips

Read "Huagan" first to feel the parallel structure of donkey and bearer, then go on to the other pieces.
Pause after each piece and recall which conversation or detail moved you most; do not chase speed.
Read "Huagan" alongside "Skeleton and Soul" from the same collection to see how the author writes about human endurance from different angles.
If using the book to study writing, copy out passages of plain description and imitate how concrete actions replace adjectives.

版权信息
滑竿
无题
一条铁路的完成
来信
骨架与灵魂
一九二九的愚昧
火线外（二章）

FAQ

Is Huagan a novel or an essay?

From the available material it is a piece written in a documentary style, revealing lower-class life through conversations with sedan-chair bearers; it is closer to an essay or short documentary piece than to a fictional novel. Most of the other pieces collected here, such as "Untitled" and "A Letter," are also short texts, so there is no need to expect novelistic plot.

Is this book suitable for middle-school students?

It suits middle-school students with some reading ability. The texts are short, the language is not obscure, and they help readers understand the lives and feelings of ordinary people during the War of Resistance. Some pieces, however, touch on the suffering of the era, so readers need basic historical background; teachers or parents can offer some guidance.

Why do these texts express patriotism without being empty?

Because the author grounds patriotism in specific people: bearers climbing under load on mountain paths, donkeys carrying grain across the wilderness, their plain words naturally revealing concern for family and others. The spiritual core is conveyed through detail and dialogue rather than declared slogans, so it does not read as empty.

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About the author

Xiao Hong Author · China · 1911–1942

Xiao Hong, originally named Zhang Naiying, was a modern Chinese woman writer from Hulan, Heilongjiang. She rose to fame in 1935 with The Field of Life and Death. Her works are mostly set in the rural society of Northeast China, focusing on how ordinary people live and struggle with fate in turbulent times, with delicate, compassionate writing. Her representative work Tales of Hulan River unfolds through memories of her hometown and its people; its plain, natural language and essay-like narration portray local customs and individual experience, and it is regarded as an important achievement of modern Chinese literature. Works such as Ma Bole and Commercial Street also show her sustained observation of social reality and daily life. She died in Hong Kong in 1942 at the age of thirty-one. The library holds 175 of her works, commonly classified as social fiction and classics, reflecting her lasting influence among readers and publishers.