Song of the Cousins (Two Volumes)

Name: Song of the Cousins (Two Volumes)
ISBN: 9787521201086

刘上洋Writers Publishing House · ChinaAug 2026

3.5

Word count: 413K words
Chapters: 37
ISBN: 9787521201086

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Summary

This is a novel that sets out to paint a panoramic portrait of the great turning point in Chinese society: reform and opening up. It unfolds mainly against the backdrop of the author's fictional Jiangnan City in Jiangxi Province, moving from officialdom to business and love, from major cities to smaller towns and then to poor remote villages, sweeping and magnificent in scope.

In time, the novel stays close to the period around the Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee. By tracing changes and developments in its characters' personalities, it adheres closely to how reform and opening up transformed their psychology, emotions and character, thereby revealing the grand and profound epic of China's reform and opening up through small details. In characterization, the novel for the first time concentrates its force on creating a group portrait of Jiangxi laobiao. Among them are a farmer factory director and a university graduate, village cadres, villagers and young rural migrants working on the coast, laid-off workers, a foreign-funded enterprise manager, state-owned enterprise workers, a municipal party secretary, a cadre who left office to go into business, and others. The characters are vivid and set one another off to advantage, arranged with pleasing variety; each carries the distinctive atmosphere of that era while also possessing an individual temperament. Through their partings and reunions, sorrows and joys, rises and falls, they enact every resounding step of an era moving from conservatism toward openness.

Editor's review

The strength of "Song of the Laobiao" lies in refusing to write reform and opening up as a report card; instead, it turns its lens on concrete individuals at the turning point. Set primarily in the fictional Jiangnan City, Jiangxi Province, the novel moves among officialdom, business, and romance, and spreads from major cities to small and medium cities and on to poor remote villages, its broad scope bringing a wealth of social cross-sections. In time it focuses on the period around the Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee; the author's effort lies not in listing events but in how characters' psychology, emotions, and personalities change with the reform process, so that every step from conservatism to openness lands on specific people. A group portrait of "laobiao" — farmer factory directors, officials who left their posts for business, migrant young workers, laid-off workers, a municipal party secretary — each carries the气息 of the era yet has a temperament of their own, their joys and sorrows reflecting one another. At two volumes, it is substantial, suited to readers willing to immerse themselves in an era and observe ordinary people's choices amid social transformation. For those interested in Jiangxi regional writing or literature on reform, it is a work of weight and lived texture.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in the social transformation of the early reform era who want to experience it through fiction
Readers of long novels who enjoy ensemble casts and narratives moving across multiple spaces
Readers interested in Jiangxi regional culture and the "laobiao" image
Readers willing to spend time on a two-volume work and who prefer panoramic social writing

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer short reads or light reading and find long, multi-threaded narratives hard to sustain
Readers expecting a tight single-thread plot who lack patience for ensemble development
Readers not interested in the parallel treatment of officialdom, business, and rural life

Reading tips

Read the opening chapters first to establish the main characters and the spatial relations of Jiangnan City, then follow character threads separately to avoid confusion.
Prepare a simple character chart marking identities such as farmer factory director, official-turned-businessman, and migrant youth to help sort out the ensemble.
Watch how characters' personalities change with the reform process; this is the book's main way of presenting the era's turning point and deserves closer reading than the plot.
Read the two volumes in stages: the first emphasizes characters' entrances and the unfolding of conflicts, the second focuses on where their fates lead; pause in between to reflect.

About the publisher

Writers Publishing House China · Founded in 1953

Writers Publishing House is a Chinese publisher focused mainly on literary publishing. Its output covers classical literature, foreign literature, folk literature and Eastern philosophy, with some extension into popular reading such as social fiction and parenting books. Its catalogue contains more than 900 titles, including representative works such as Dream of the Red Chamber and its edited editions, Shakespeare's Macbeth and A Midsummer Night's Dream, and foreign literary classics such as The Brothers Karamazov and Lost Illusions. In terms of authors, it includes classical writers such as Cao Xueqin and Gao E, foreign masters such as William Shakespeare, Dostoevsky and Balzac, and translations by translators such as Zhu Shenghao, Geng Jizhi and Fu Lei. Overall, its publishing profile balances Chinese and foreign literary classics, emphasizes quality translations, and serves both academic and general readers; publicly available information on its specific publishing plans is limited.

版权信息
老表之歌上
版权信息
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
第十一章
第十二章
第十三章
第十四章
第十五章
老表之歌下
版权信息
第十六章
第十七章
第十八章
第十九章
第二十章
第二十一章
第二十二章
第二十三章
第二十四章
第二十五章
第二十六章
第二十七章
第二十八章
第二十九章
第三十章
后记
附录：江西老表

FAQ

What does "laobiao" mean here?

"Laobiao" is a friendly term Jiangxi people commonly use among themselves. The novel takes it as its title and builds a group portrait of Jiangxi laobiao — farmer factory directors, village cadres, migrant youth, laid-off workers, a municipal party secretary, and others — using their joys and sorrows to portray the era's move from conservatism to openness.

What is the story's time setting?

The novel focuses on the turning period around the Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee, unfolding its narrative around reform and opening up, with emphasis on how reform changes characters' psychology, emotions, and personalities rather than simply laying out historical events.

At two volumes, is the reading threshold high?

It is long, with many characters and threads shifting among officialdom, business, romance, and urban and rural settings, so it requires some patience. But the language and plot stay close to real life and present no daunting barrier, making it suitable for readers willing to invest time in a long work of social fiction.

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About the author

刘上洋 Author

Public information about Liu Shangyang is limited; at present, only two of his works are known to be included in the collection. His writing spans different fields. The novel Song of the Old Cousins (two volumes) belongs to social fiction, and judging from its title and genre, it is likely a socially oriented narrative built around the regional term “old cousins,” focusing on ordinary people’s lives and human relationships. Research on the Coordinated Development of Ecology and Economy in Underdeveloped Areas is a finance and economics work that discusses how underdeveloped regions can seek balance between ecological protection and economic development. One work leans toward literary narrative, the other toward research on practical issues, showing that the author is engaged in both literary expression and problem analysis. Because public information about his life, career, and creative background is lacking, a full assessment of his overall writing style and the social impact of his works remains difficult; readers may learn more by examining the specific content of these two works.