Braving the Journey to the Northeast cover

Braving the Journey to the Northeast

Rating 4.2
Word count
467K words
Chapters
8
ISBN
9787532928033

Tags

Summary

Braving the Journey to the Northeast was written by the renowned screenwriter Gao Mantang and Sun Jianye over several years and six drafts, and is the original novel of the 52-episode CCTV television series of the same name broadcast in 2008. The story begins in 1904 in Zhangqiu, Shandong: years of famine and banditry, and Zhu Kaishan, who had fled to the Northeast four years earlier after taking part in the Boxer uprising, has sent no word, leaving his wife to raise three sons alone through bitter hardship. After receiving a letter from her husband beyond the pass, the Zhu family decides to set out by sea, braving wind and waves and marauding soldiers as they head north, and after several brushes with death they are finally reunited in Yuanbao Town. Settling in the Northeast is only the beginning. To make a living, Zhu Kaishan goes into the deep mountains to pan for gold, enduring layer upon layer of exploitation by the gold bosses, bandits, and officials, and finally escapes with a bag of gold, buys land and a house, and roots the family in the black soil. Thereafter the Zhu family runs a Shandong restaurant in Harbin, resolving their feud with Master Pan Wu through the philosophy of harmony as the most precious, and easing the generations-old estrangement between Shandong people and Rehe people; they also join with business colleagues to raise funds to mine the Jiazi Gully coal mine and match wits with the Japanese over mining rights. With the Zhu family's decades of migration, livelihood, and resistance as its main thread, the book links the turbulent era from the late Qing and early Republic to the period around the Mukden Incident, creating a gallery of ordinary heroes represented by Zhu Kaishan and Zhu Chuanwu, and depicting the vast, rugged vigor of the Northeast and the resilience and kindness of the migrant community.

Editor's review

这是那种能把“历史”从教科书里拽出来、还原成灶台烟火与风雪夜路的作品。高满堂与孙建业为写这本书,曾驱车七千公里,在辽宁、吉林、黑龙江和鲁西南、胶东采访上百位闯关东的亲历者与后人;他们“用脚丈量黑土地”换来的细节,让淘金、伐木、抬参、开饭馆这些行当的规矩与行话都落在了实处。 书里没有天生的英雄。朱开山有力气、有义气,也会犯倔、也会算计;朱家兄弟各有性格与短处,在乱世里跌跌撞撞地长大。正是这些不完美的人,撑起了一部平民视角的迁徙史:两千万山东人离开故土,不是因为想去远方,而是为了活下去。作者把宏大时代压缩进一家人的口粮、婚约、账本与矿山之争,读来既荡气回肠,又处处有生活质感。 2008年首版即售出逾十万册,豆瓣评分常年维持在8分以上,改编剧更在第七届金鹰电视艺术节独揽七项大奖。想理解“闯关东精神”究竟指什么,这本书比任何解说都更直接。

Who it's for

A good fit for

  • 喜欢年代家族史诗、偏爱平民视角历史叙事的读者
  • 看过同名电视剧,想读原著补充细节的观众
  • 对山东移民史、东北近现代史与民俗感兴趣的读者
  • 需要一部厚重长篇、愿意投入数十小时阅读的读者

Not a good fit for

  • 偏好轻快短篇或强悬念快节奏叙事的读者
  • 对方言词汇与地域行话接受度较低、读起来易出戏的读者
  • 希望读到严格史学考证而非文学叙事的读者

Reading tips

  1. 按“第一部至第四部”的顺序读,四部对应朱家从逃荒、淘金、开饭馆到争矿业的四个阶段。
  2. 读到淘金、木帮、采参等段落时,可留意方言与行当细节,这正是作者田野采访的成果。
  3. 可配合查阅清末东北封禁政策与“九一八”前后的历史背景,理解人物选择的时代压力。
  4. 若先看过电视剧,可对照阅读,留意小说在人物心理与家族日常上的补充描写。

About the publisher

Shandong Publishing House of Literature and Art is a professional publisher focused on literature and art, with publications spanning foreign literature, classical literature, Western philosophy, and social sciences. Judging from the books in the database, it offers foreign classics such as The Brothers Karamazov, The Count of Monte Cristo, and Resurrection, classical Chinese literature including Dream of the Red Chamber: Complete in 2 Volumes, and Japanese literary works by Yasunari Kawabata such as Snow Country, The Old Capital, and Thousand Cranes. Its translator resources include Geng Jizhi and Zhou Kexi, while its author resources cover Chinese and foreign masters such as Cao Xueqin, Dostoevsky, Dumas, and Leo Tolstoy. In terms of publishing features, the house emphasizes the translation and popularization of classic works, balancing academic value and readability. Public information is limited; the above introduction is based mainly on the publishing directions reflected in the books in the database.

Contents

  1. Part One
  2. Chapters 1–10
  3. Part Two
  4. Chapters 11–20
  5. Part Three
  6. Chapters 21–30
  7. Part Four
  8. Chapters 31–40

FAQ

这本书和同名电视剧是什么关系?
《闯关东》是高满堂、孙建业创作的长篇小说,与2008年央视播出的52集同名电视剧同源,电视剧播出在先并大获成功,小说完整保留了剧本的叙事框架,同时在人物心理与生活细节上有更充分的文学铺陈。
《闯关东》和《闯关东2》是同一本书吗?
不是。本书写朱开山一家从1904年前后闯关东、淘金、开饭馆到争夺煤矿的故事;《闯关东2》(作家出版社2009年)讲的是宋家三姐妹和小弟在“九一八”至1949年间的经历,人物与故事另起一线。
没看过电视剧能直接读吗?
完全可以。小说叙事完整、线索清晰,不需要任何前置知识;不了解电视剧的读者反而能享受情节推进带来的悬念。
全书篇幅大概多大?
山东文艺出版社2008年版约552页、四部四十章,总字数约46.7万字,属于需要持续投入数十小时阅读的长篇,建议分四部按阶段读完。

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About the author

高满堂 Author · Chinese · 1955

Gao Mantang, born in 1955 in Dalian, Liaoning, is a Chinese screenwriter and writer and a National First-Class Screenwriter. His work consists mainly of television scripts and the novels derived from them, often drawing on northeastern China and the everyday lives of ordinary people. He is skilled at portraying family ethics and personal fate amid social change, with solid storytelling, vivid characters, and a strong sense of period and region. His representative works include Chuang Guandong, The Old Tavern, The Family of Nine Phoenixes, The North Wind Blows, The Great Craftsman, Returning to the Ranks, and Frontier of Love, many of which have been adapted into television series of the same name starring well-known actors and have reached a wide audience. His books are commonly categorized as premium fiction, social fiction, and essays and miscellaneous writings. Public information is limited, and few details of his life are recorded; readers know his writing mainly through these works.

孙建业 Author

Sun Jianye is an author about whom limited public information is currently available. The library holds one work under this name, Guandong Raiders (Chuang Guandong), which belongs to the category of premium fiction. The work is well known to readers and was adapted into a television series of the same name, starring Li Youbin, Sa Rina, Song Jia, and Zhu Yawen. Based on the available materials, Sun Jianye's creative profile centers mainly on this subject, and the work gained wider reader attention through its television adaptation. Since information such as dates of birth and death, nationality, educational background, and writing career remains unclear, this introduction makes no speculation and presents only the work's category and influence based on library facts. Overall, Sun Jianye's name is closely associated with Guandong Raiders, a novel that entered the public eye through its screen adaptation and stands as a relatively representative work in its genre.

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