Drifting

Name: Drifting
ISBN: 9787895447066

鲁锦虹May 2026

3.2

Word count: 922K words
Chapters: 57
ISBN: 9787895447066

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Summary

This novel follows Liang Erchou, an elderly widower in a rural village, as a stroke and his subsequent treatment lead the narrative into the realities of eldercare and medical care for the rural elderly. Set mainly in farm households of the Lixiahe region of northern Jiangsu and in a county hospital ward, it recounts the older generation's memories of dredging rivers for flood control, and looks back on two catastrophic floods before and after the founding of New China, whose effects differed sharply, to show the government's sustained campaign to tame northern Jiangsu's floods through water conservancy for the benefit of future generations, and the arduous course of that major historical achievement.

The novel creates a wide range of characters across social strata in the Lixiahe region around the founding of New China. Among them are the gentry Gu Botao and Zhao Wenxuan, the physician Huang Bingkun, the peasant association chairman Liu Rulin, the production team leader Zhou Zhenggen, the women's shock brigade leader Chen Lantou, the militia company commander "Wubao," the township water conservancy station chief Sun Jian, the village doctor Lu Junlan, and the farmer broker Jin Xi.

While depicting a century of fortunes of several families in the villages of Gaozhe, Longtangbao and Sunjiapo on the right bank of the Dongguan River in the Lixiahe region, the novel describes in detail the work, love and family life of the young mason Liang Erchou during the rural collectivization period, and portrays the tenacity and self-sacrificing spirit of laborers on water conservancy sites in an era of harsh conditions, poor environment and hard living, creating a series of plain, vivid portraits of ordinary laborers.

Editor's review

Set in the Lixiahe region of northern Jiangsu, this novel uses the everyday event of the elderly widower Liang Erchou's stroke and hospital treatment to open onto the realities of rural eldercare and medical care, then reaches back to the collective memory of river dredging and flood control and to the sharply different outcomes of two floods before and after the founding of New China, interweaving a century of family fortunes with the history of water conservancy. It portrays gentry, physicians, a peasant association chairman, a production team leader, a women's shock brigade leader, a village doctor, a farmer broker and many others, with the group portrait of laborers especially plain and vivid. Its value lies in preserving, in literary form, the flood-control experience and rural life details of the northern Jiangsu water country, and it will appeal to readers interested in regional themes, contemporary rural realities and water conservancy history. The narrative has many threads, and readers should keep track of the shifts between the hospital present and the historical recollections.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in the realities of eldercare and medical care in contemporary rural China
Those curious about the local history of the Lixiahe region in northern Jiangsu
Literary readers who enjoy multi-family sagas and group portraits
Scholars studying the history of water conservancy and rural collective memory

Not a good fit for

Readers of genre fiction who prefer fast-paced plots and strong suspense
Readers impatient with multiple threads and large casts
Literary fans seeking purely personal lyricism or experimental writing

Reading tips

First sort out the family relationships among the villages of Gaozhe, Longtangbao and Sunjiapo before entering the main story.
Mark the hospital present-day thread and the river-dredging memory thread separately, and note where the two time periods switch.
Pay attention to the detailed portrayal of the laborers, which can be read alongside local water conservancy records.
After finishing, revisit the contrast between the two floods before and after the founding of New China to appreciate the author's structural intent.

版权信息
作者简介
内容简介
漂上部
卷首歌谣
卷一
序章
第一章
第二章
第三章
第四章
第五章
第六章
第七章
第八章
第九章
第十章
卷二
第一章
第二章
第三章
第四章
第五章
第六章
第七章
第八章
卷三
第一章
第二章
第三章
第四章
漂下部
卷四
第一章
第二章
第三章
第四章
第五章
第六章
卷五
第一章
第二章
第三章
第四章
第五章
第六章
第七章
第八章
卷六
第一章
第二章
第三章
第四章
第五章
第六章
第七章（上）
第七章（下）

FAQ

How long a period does the novel span?

According to the synopsis, the story begins with two catastrophic floods in northern Jiangsu around the founding of New China, passes through water conservancy sites during the rural collectivization period, and continues to the present-day hospital ward where Liang Erchou is treated after his stroke, spanning nearly a century and presented through interwoven present-day and remembered scenes.

What types of main characters appear in the book?

The synopsis lists the gentry Gu Botao and Zhao Wenxuan, the physician Huang Bingkun, the peasant association chairman Liu Rulin, the production team leader Zhou Zhenggen, the women's shock brigade leader Chen Lantou, the militia company commander "Wubao," the water conservancy station chief Sun Jian, the village doctor Lu Junlan and the farmer broker Jin Xi, covering many rural strata, along with a large group portrait of laborers.

Is this book suitable as a way to learn about the water conservancy history of northern Jiangsu?

It can serve as a literary supplementary read. The novel describes labor scenes and the spirit of the laborers on water conservancy sites in detail and reviews the course of taming northern Jiangsu's floods, but it is fiction, and historical details still need to be checked against local gazetteers and water conservancy records.

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About the author

鲁锦虹 Author

Lu Jinhong is an author about whom limited public information is currently available; the library holds only one work by this name, the social novel Drifting. Based on the existing information, Lu Jinhong's writing touches on realistic social themes, presenting through fiction how characters move through and confront their circumstances in the real world. Drifting is classified as a social novel, a category that suggests the work focuses on social life and the varied conditions of people rather than on purely personal expression or genre-driven storytelling. Because the author's biography, nationality, education, and writing career are not clearly documented, this introduction makes no speculation about their life and invents no details such as awards, positions, or sales figures. On the available evidence, Lu Jinhong's creative profile awaits further material; readers beginning with Drifting may note its observational angle on social reality and its narrative approach, which remain the most reliable basis for understanding this author at present.