Those Who Eat the South

Name: Those Who Eat the South
ISBN: 9787572616099

Ma BoyongHunan Literature and Art Publishing House · ChinaJul 2024

4.1

Word count: 174K words
Chapters: 17
ISBN: 9787572616099

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Summary

Ma Boyong's latest novel of 2024—a remarkable book about food that we advise you not to read late at night.

Tang Meng, a gluttonous envoy of the Han dynasty, arrives in Nanyue, the kingdom that knows best how to eat. Here ingredients are abundant; it is nothing short of a paradise for gourmands. Yet behind the food surge conflicts between north and south, divisions between peoples, struggles for power, and the rise and fall of state policy... all manner of intrigue, more complex than the flavors of Lingnan's ingredients. This lazy Han envoy finds himself caught in the vortex of Lingnan's political strife. His only trustworthy companion is food; his only way to break the deadlock is a heart that pursues the ultimate in cuisine. No one expected that a subtle savor could bear on the fate of Han and Nanyue—even the entire map of China...

Editor's review

Following The Lychees of Chang'an, Food of the South is Ma Boyong's second narrative attempt to focus on "small people doing great things" in the crevices of history. Set in the Nanyue Kingdom of the Western Han, the book tells of envoy Tang Meng, who is sent on a mission but becomes entangled in a culinary mystery surrounding ju jiang (an ancient condiment paste). The Prince of Qin (Ma Boyong) deftly fuses food culture, historical research, and suspenseful deduction, using "food"—an everyday vehicle—to pry open the political wrestling and cultural collision on the empire's frontier. Similar to the "logistics crisis" of The Lychees of Chang'an, the core of this book is an "information crisis"—how can a flavor become a political bargaining chip and strategic intelligence? Ma Boyong's skill lies in his ability to transform dry historical archives into narrative scenes full of tension, making readers feel as if they were personally present at the feasts in the humid, dense forests of Nanyue and the sharp exchanges in the court. This book is not a strict historical novel but a story with a strong imagination of "historical possibility"; its researched details are abundant yet not constrained by research, its pace brisk, its reversals frequent. The reading value it offers is not only a splendid ancient "food detective" story but also a new perspective for observing history: the expansion of civilization and local resistance are often first manifested on the palate and at the dining table.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy Ma Boyong's previous works, especially the "historical detail deduction" style of The Lychees of Chang'an and Fifteen Days in Two Capitals.
Readers with a strong interest in ancient food culture and the history of material life who wish to glimpse grand history through concrete objects.
Readers who prefer fast-paced historical novels with suspense and puzzle-solving elements, seeking intellectual pleasure and incremental knowledge.
Readers curious about the history of Lingnan (Nanyue) during the Qin and Han dynasties and the relations between the Central Plains and the Baiyue, who hope for a vivid understanding.

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking serious, weighty orthodox historical novels that adhere completely to historical fact.
Readers who are completely uninterested in the everyday historical details of food and products and focus only on grand wars and political narratives.

Reading tips

It can be read in contrast with The Lychees of Chang'an to appreciate how Ma Boyong handles the narrative model of "small evidence driving grand history" in different temporal and spatial contexts.
Readers may wish to slow down and savor the descriptions of ju jiang, Lingnan's local products, and banquet scenes; these details are key to understanding the story's conflicts and cultural tensions.
The deductive clues in the story are mostly related to ancient geography and the knowledge of names and objects; if something is unclear, a brief consultation of relevant materials will yield a richer reading experience.

About the publisher

Hunan Literature and Art Publishing House China · Founded in 1985

Hunan Literature and Art Publishing House is a publisher known for its literary titles, with a catalogue spanning foreign literature, world classics, classical Chinese literature, essays and miscellaneous writings, and mystery and detective fiction. Judging from the more than 1,100 books in the database, the press publishes foreign classics such as Crime and Punishment, Snow Country, The Complete Sherlock Holmes and Letter from an Unknown Woman, as well as Chinese classical and modern literary works including Lu Xun's Wandering and A Madman's Diary and Wu Jingzi's The Scholars. In terms of translators and authors, translations by Cao Guowei and Tan Jinghua appear in its foreign literature titles, and the authors involved include Dostoevsky, Kawabata Yasunari, Conan Doyle and Zweig. Its publishing character lies in introducing Chinese and foreign literary classics side by side, balancing popular and serious works and attending to both readability and literary value. Public information is limited; the above is a brief overview based solely on the books in the database.

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
尾声
后记

FAQ

Is this book a series with The Lychees of Chang'an?

Not a series in the strict sense, but they are highly related in creative approach and subject type and can be regarded as companion works in the same creative direction, both focusing on reflecting historical processes and officialdom through a specific object (lychees/ju jiang).

Is the story based on real historical events?

The core figure Tang Meng and his mission to Nanyue are recorded in the Records of the Grand Historian and the Book of Han, but the suspenseful case surrounding ju jiang is Ma Boyong's bold literary fiction based on the historical background, belonging to the "historical possibility" novel.

Is this book difficult to read?

The reading threshold is not high. Ma Boyong's style is accessible and fluent, with strong storytelling, and key historical background and knowledge of names and objects are naturally explained in the narrative. Even readers unfamiliar with the history of Western Han and Nanyue can enter the story smoothly and gain new knowledge from it.

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About the author

Ma Boyong Author · China · 1980

Ma Boyong, whose real name is Ma Li, was born in 1980 in Chifeng, Inner Mongolia. He is an ethnic Manchu contemporary Chinese writer and screenwriter. Since 2005 he has published works online, writing across historical nonfiction, mystery and suspense, and social fiction. His representative works include Feng Qi Long Xi, The Antique Bureau, The Longest Day in Chang'an, and The Lychees of Chang'an, and many of his books have been adapted into films and television series. He has received the People's Literature Award, the Zhu Ziqing Prose Award, and the Galaxy Award. His writing often builds on real history, weaving suspense and imagination into meticulous research, with a brisk narrative pace that combines erudition and readability. The library holds 41 of his works, including the Da Yi series, Two Capitals in Fifteen Days, and Under the Microscope: The Ming Dynasty, spanning subjects from ancient medicine and Ming-era case records to contemporary urban mysteries, reflecting his dual concern with history and the present.