Footprints

Name: Footprints
ISBN: 9787521237368

马以林Writers Publishing House · ChinaMar 2026

3.2

Word count: 180K words
Chapters: 35
ISBN: 9787521237368

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Summary

As a member of the "post-50s" generation, the "old three cohorts," and "the generation of the Republic," the author lived through the difficult years, the "ten years of the Cultural Revolution," the years as an educated youth, and reform and opening up. He has been a student, farmer, worker, corps member, and government cadre, and has witnessed the great journey of the Republic standing up, growing prosperous, and becoming strong, feeling deeply that his ordinary self is a lucky one. Ordinary people have ordinary perspectives, and lucky people bear the responsibilities of the lucky. In Footprints, the author takes his personal experience as a thread, follows the trajectory of the times, and truthfully recreates the stories of the corps' educated youth, the stories of the provincial government compound, and the stories of the Ma family, attempting to objectively record with sincere words what he has seen, heard, and thought, telling readers and leaving for posterity: this is the river our generation crossed, the road we walked, the footprints we left.

Editor's review

The value of Footprints lies in its self-aware perspective: the author uses his personal experience as a "post-50s" and "old third cohort" as a thread, yet never turns memoir into self-congratulation. Instead, following the arc of the times, he records the stories of the Corps' educated youth, the provincial government compound, and the Ma family, objectively handing what he saw, heard, and thought to readers and later generations. Repeated self-descriptions such as "ordinary people," "the fortunate," and "responsibility" give this personal history the character of generational testimony. Readers can see how the difficult years, the educated-youth era, and reform and opening-up landed on specific people and families, and can also sense a restrained yet sincere narrative attitude. It suits readers willing to read slowly and to place personal experience back within the structure of the times, and is especially suitable as a book for intergenerational communication: letting younger readers know which rivers the previous generation crossed, and letting peers recognize anew the road they themselves have traveled.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who want to understand the life experience of the "post-50s" and "old third cohort"
Readers interested in the educated-youth years and life in the Corps
Middle-aged and older readers concerned with the relationship between personal history, family history, and the times
Young readers who want to start an intergenerational dialogue with their elders

Not a good fit for

Literary readers expecting fictional plots and dramatic conflict
Readers who prefer macro theoretical analysis over personal memoir
Readers impatient with the plain narration of memoir

Reading tips

Take brief notes separately along the three threads of the Corps, the provincial government compound, and the family, then review the arc of the times together.
Pause at the author's self-descriptions and think about the difference between personal fortune and generational responsibility.
Read alongside an elder in the family, cross-checking the stages in the book with their experiences.
It need not be read in one sitting; reading in blocks by life stage makes the changes of the times easier to appreciate.

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
代序不仅是一个人的足迹
第一章在那土炕上出生
1 故土淄川房家村
2 胶济铁路修过来
3 英勇抗日模范村
4 艰难抉择离故土
第二章在那铁道边长大
1 铁路宿舍新生活
2 铁小铁中故事多
3 风雨岁月度年华
第三章上山下乡一条路
1 回到故乡房家村
2 哪片白云属于我
3 建设兵团第三团
4 兵团机关驻泰安
第四章大院深深春秋事
1 走进省府东南门
2 华笔池畔是我家
3 当年机关老宿舍
4 话说明清贡士院
5 人到中年进院校
6 海棠树下话古今
第五章那时我们正当年
1 山东大厦起广州
2 机关办公自动化
3 六十前后那些事
4 春华秋实白头翁
第六章漫笔家史六百年
1 老祖住在长白山
2 寻找先人迁徙路
3 马骕祖源在何方
4 创新修谱沟西村
参考书目
后记

FAQ

Is this book a complete autobiography or fragments of memory?

It uses the author's personal experience as a thread and unfolds along the arc of the times, focusing on stories of the Corps' educated youth, the provincial government compound, and the Ma family. It is a generational memoir left in sincere words rather than an autobiography aiming at a complete career record.

What entry point does this book offer young readers?

They can start from "how ordinary people see the times" and compare the stages in the book with their elders' experiences. The author emphasizes the responsibility of the fortunate; young readers need not agree with every judgment first—understand the rivers that generation crossed, then form their own views.

Does the book touch on the difficult years and the Cultural Revolution?

Yes. As a "post-50s" and "old third cohort," the author lived through the difficult years, the "ten years of the Cultural Revolution," the educated-youth years, and reform and opening-up. The book records these stages through what he personally saw, heard, and thought, but the mode is memoir and testimony, not macro historical treatise.

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About the author

马以林 Author

Ma Yilin: public information is limited. What can be confirmed is that Ma Yilin is the author of the book Footprints, the only work by this author held in the collection, commonly classified as prose and miscellaneous writings. The title Footprints suggests content related to travel observations, life experience, or everyday reflection, while the classification indicates that the writing consists mainly of prose essays, flexible in length and close to daily life and personal experience. Since the author's biographical details, nationality, dates of birth and death, and English name are not clearly recorded, information about education, career, and creative development cannot be established, nor should the book's specific contents be guessed from its title. Based on the available clues, Ma Yilin's writing centers on prose, drawing feelings from ordinary experience in a plain and natural style. Readers who wish to understand the author's writing characteristics should still rely mainly on the original text of Footprints.