Song of the Dragon and Phoenix

Name: Song of the Dragon and Phoenix
ISBN: 9787559492074

胡学文Jiangsu Phoenix Literature and Art Publishing House · ChinaJul 2026

3.8

Word count: 353K words
Chapters: 142
ISBN: 9787559492074

Report an error Find this book

Summary

A Song of Dragon and Phoenix is Hu Xuewen's new novel, a work of introspection that portrays a mother's self-woven prison of the heart while unfolding a portrait of survival across an era of material scarcity. In the novel, a stray sorrel horse sets a romance in motion, and from it a pair of twins—one dragon, one phoenix—come into the world. The outcome of their rivalry in the womb is plain at birth, and in growing up their temperaments diverge ever more sharply, until the difference between son and daughter becomes the growing burden and unspoken sorrow of their mother, Ma Qiuyue. Inner torment and guilt drive her to seek solutions outward and to press down on herself inward: how will she escape the prison of the heart? The work continues Hu Xuewen's fine-grained realist style and lyrical, graceful language.

Editor's review

The Dragon and Phoenix Song is a new novel by Hu Xuewen, centered on a mother's self-woven prison of the heart while unfolding a collective portrait of life in an era of material scarcity. A stray chestnut horse sets a marriage in motion, and a pair of twins—a boy and a girl—comes into the world; the competition between them in the womb is plain to see after birth, their differences in temperament grow ever more pronounced, and the distinction between son and daughter gradually becomes both a heavy burden and an unspoken sorrow for the mother, Ma Qiuyue. Inner torment and guilt drive her to seek solutions outward and press inward upon herself, and how she escapes the prison of the heart constitutes the novel's core tension. Hu Xuewen continues his fine-grained realist method and lyrical, graceful language, weaving together the family's obsessiveness and guilt with the sense of scarcity in everyday life of the era; the reading offers both the coarseness of lived experience and the subtlety of emotion. It suits readers who enjoy contemporary serious fiction and care about family ethics and women's psychology, and it is also well suited to book-club discussions of mother-son relations, gender expectations, and self-redemption. Readers need not rush to ask where the plot is going; it is better to attend to the layered shifts in the mother's psychology and the marks of the era in everyday detail.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy contemporary serious novels and finely detailed realism
Readers concerned with mother-son relations, family ethics, and women's psychology
Readers interested in collective portraits of life in an era of material scarcity
Those who wish to discuss gender expectations and self-redemption in a book club

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer fast-paced stories with strong plots and frequent twists
Readers seeking only light, healing subjects and unwilling to encounter depictions of inner torment
Readers impatient with lyrical language and elaborate detail

Reading tips

Take the psychological shifts of the mother, Ma Qiuyue, as the main thread, tracing stage by stage where her guilt comes from and how it intensifies.
Watch for the recurrence of key images such as the chestnut horse and the twins; they often carry turning points in the characters' relationships.
Slow down at passages of everyday detail; the texture of life in an era of material scarcity lies mostly in food, clothing, and dealings with neighbors.
If organizing a book club, set aside one session to discuss why the distinction between son and daughter becomes the mother's burden.

About the publisher

Jiangsu Phoenix Literature and Art Publishing House China · Founded in 1958

Jiangsu Phoenix Literature and Art Publishing House focuses on literary publishing while also covering the humanities, social sciences, and books on art and daily life. Its approximately 1,535 titles in the database span social novels, world history, design, science fiction, classic works, and film and television: they include modern Chinese literary classics by Lu Xun such as A Madman's Diary: The Complete Short Stories of Lu Xun, Call to Arms, Four Generations Under One Roof, and Teahouse, as well as foreign literary memoirs like Stefan Zweig's The World of Yesterday. In science fiction it offers Asimov's Galactic Empire series, while in architecture and art it publishes Liu Dunzhen's Classical Gardens of Suzhou and design titles from Phoenix Space. Its authors are concentrated among classic writers such as Lu Xun, Zweig, and Asimov, with translators including Liang Xijiang, Zhong Haonan, and Ye Lihua. Its overall character is built on classic works while embracing genre fiction and visual culture. Public information is limited, and this introduction is based on the titles in the database.

版权信息
《龙凤歌》人物关系图谱
上卷
第一章
1
2
3
4
第二章
1
2
3
4
5
第三章
1
2
3
4
5
第四章
1
2
3
4
5
第五章
1
2
3
4
5
第六章
1
2
3
4
5
6
第七章
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
第八章
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
第九章
1
2
下卷
第一章
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
第二章
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
第三章
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
第四章
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
第五章
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
第六章
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
第七章
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
第八章
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
第九章
1
2
3
4

FAQ

What is the main storyline of The Dragon and Phoenix Song?

The novel depicts a mother's self-woven prison of the heart: a stray chestnut horse sets a marriage in motion, a pair of twins comes into the world, the sister and brother differ utterly in temperament, and the distinction between son and daughter increasingly becomes both a heavy burden and an unspoken sorrow for the mother, Ma Qiuyue. Inner torment and guilt drive her to seek solutions outward and press inward upon herself, and from this the novel unfolds how she escapes the prison of the heart.

Is the language of this book easy to read?

The work continues Hu Xuewen's finely detailed realist method and graceful, lyrical language; the sentences are crafted and the details rich, and it is not a fast-paced, brisk narrative. Readers used to rapid plotting may find it slow at first, but if they follow the characters' psychology, the lyricism and texture of life in the language will gradually emerge.

Is it suitable for book-club discussion?

Yes. The novel revolves around the mother's psychological prison, the temperamental differences between the twins, and the family pressure brought by the distinction between son and daughter; the issues are focused and open to discussion. Questions can be designed around mother-son relations, gender expectations, and how guilt turns into self-pressure; participants need not reach a consensus.

Do I need to know the author's other works before reading?

No. This is a standalone novel with self-contained story and characters, so you can go straight in. Readers familiar with Hu Xuewen's realist style will adapt more easily to his elaborate exposition and lyrical language; those unfamiliar need only slow down and attend to everyday detail and psychological shifts.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

胡学文 Author

Hu Xuewen is a contemporary Chinese author about whom limited public information is available. Six of his works are included in this database, spanning categories such as social fiction, classic works, and literary appreciation. Judging from titles such as From Dusk Beginning at Noon, Chasing Shadows: A Collection of Novellas, The Intruder, and Song of the Dragon and Phoenix, he works mainly in novels and novellas. His subjects are close to everyday reality and focus on the circumstances and fate of ordinary people; his narration is steady and his writing delicate, showing a strong sense of social observation. Because his works are classified as social fiction, readers and critics tend to understand his writing in terms of its concern with real life. Two other titles in the database, How to Make Chongqing Hot Pot and A Translation Collection of Studies on Huizhou Lineages, differ markedly in subject—one concerns culinary technique, the other local lineage research and translation—suggesting that the works collected here are fairly diverse and that some may not belong to the same line of writing. As his dates of birth and death, nationality, education, and awards remain unconfirmed, his biographical background cannot be described in detail; readers are advised to learn about him mainly through his individual works.