A Record of Shebei

Name: A Record of Shebei
ISBN: 9787219115794

陈纸Guangxi People's Publishing House · ChinaApr 2025

3.0

Word count: 128K words
Chapters: 16
ISBN: 9787219115794

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Summary

Born and raised in Shebei Village and now settled in the city, Jiangxi writer Chen Zhi recalls with deep feeling, in essayistic prose, the pain and joy, hardship and sweetness, constancy and change of his hometown as he experienced them through childhood, leaving home, and returning. He recounts, one by one, the people and events, grasses and trees, meals and dishes, objects and utensils etched in his memory. Every villager has his or her own joys, angers, sorrows, and pleasures; every plant has its story. Vivid and alive, the book portrays a group of vibrant rural characters and a Chinese countryside that can be known and felt. For himself and for his readers, the author builds a spiritual homeland where the heart can find anchorage, and at the same time preserves a precious record of rural China.

Editor's review

Written by Chen Zhi, *Records of Shebei* is a work of nonfiction centered on his hometown of Shebei Village in Binyang, Guangxi. It is not a simple rural memoir: with delicate prose and an affectionate gaze, it weaves together his family history, the village's transformation, and the modernization of rural southern China. Returning to his roots with a journalist's acuity and a writer's patience, Chen draws on extensive fieldwork and oral histories to document the travail, endurance, and glimmers of light in Shebei's passage from an agrarian civilization to a modern society. The book offers both tender recollections of his forebears' daily lives and sober observation of such realities as rural hollowing-out and the unraveling of traditional ethics under urbanization. Plain yet charged, the writing carries beneath its calm narration a deep attachment and concern for land, kinship, and cultural roots. Its value lies in offering a localized micro-sample through which grand narratives become visible in particular eaves, field ridges, and human fates, giving it distinctive documentary and literary significance for understanding the complex face of contemporary rural China.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in rural change and social transformation in contemporary China
Readers of nonfiction, especially texts that interweave personal experience with historical context
Readers from southern China or with an emotional connection to Lingnan regional culture
Enthusiasts of history and literature concerned with family history, oral history, and the preservation of folk memory

Not a good fit for

Entertainment-oriented readers seeking fast-paced fiction with strong plot
Academic researchers looking for systematic theoretical analysis or macro-level policy interpretation

Reading tips

Read from the perspective of a 'returning native,' experiencing the author's complex feelings as familiarity and strangeness intertwine
Mark the specific places and customs mentioned in the book on a map to enhance spatial immersion
While reading, set aside the pursuit of 'conclusions' for a time and focus on the flow of details and atmosphere

About the publisher

Guangxi People's Publishing House China · Founded in 1952

Guangxi People's Publishing House is known for its social science books and themed publishing, while also covering literary appreciation, Eastern philosophy, and cultural classics. The database contains 57 titles from the press, including classic readers in the "illustrated edition" series such as A Brief History of Chinese Fiction, Renjian Cihua, Miscellaneous Discussions on Tang Poetry, Common Classical Knowledge, and Lectures on the History of Medieval Chinese Literature, as well as themed titles like Shushan You Lu: Mao Zedong's Way of Learning and Application, and social novels such as Hell Media. Its authors range from modern masters such as Lu Xun, Wang Guowei, Zhu Ziqing, Wen Yiduo, and Liu Shipei to contemporary writers such as Chen Jin and Chen Jian. Overall, the press emphasizes making classic texts accessible to general readers and publishing social science and themed readers that balance scholarship with readability. Due to limited public information, other publishing features await further supplementation.

版权信息
疼痛的村庄（代序）
日暮乡关
祖屋杂记
县城飞奔
故乡天气
母亲味道
祭农具稿
临果树帖
菜蔬人间
乡野生灵
风物拾光
旧物牵情
题戏年图
俚语芬芳
妙手生花

FAQ

Is this book a novel or a work of reportage?

*Records of Shebei* is a work of literary nonfiction, based on the author's real hometown experiences, family history, and fieldwork. It has a strong documentary and personal-narrative character.

What main themes does the book explore?

Core themes include rural change amid modernization, the evolution of traditional clan relations, the emotional bond between the individual and the hometown, the preservation of local memory, and the disappearance and transformation of agrarian civilization.

What is the author Chen Zhi's writing background?

Chen Zhi (real name Chen Qiling) is a Guangxi writer and media professional whose work often focuses on rural life and humanistic concern. His style is delicate and grounded, combining a journalist's observational power with literary expressiveness.

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About the author

陈纸 Author

Chen Zhi is an author about whom limited public information is available. Only two works are known under this name, falling respectively into the categories of historical reading and social fiction. One of them, Shui Yang Zhen Sheng: Nanning Yangmei Ancient Town, belongs to the first series of the Guangxi Village Culture series and focuses on the ancient town of Yangmei in Nanning, reflecting an interest in local history and village culture. The other, She Bei Ji, is classified as a social novel, indicating that the author has also attempted fictional narrative. Judging from these works, Chen Zhi's writing spans documentary-style local cultural writing and fiction, with themes often tied to specific regions and rural experience. Because no clear records exist regarding birth and death dates, nationality, education, or creative career, the author's biography remains difficult to outline, and readers can only come to know this writer through the works themselves.