Spring Again

Xiao HongMay 2017

4.0

Word count: 680 words
Chapters: 3

Summary

Later we went to see a warship that had been sunk to the bottom of the river in 1929 during the fighting with Soviet Russia. Its name was the Lijie. Each person studied the warship with all the ideas at his disposal, but it was all nonsense. Some said the boiler had been smashed, and that was why it sank; others said the helmsman had been shot dead, and that was why it sank. One hole after another. A warship like this makes one feel cruelty, just the same as meeting on the street a man who has lost a leg on the battlefield: he is crippled, and others call him a useless man.

Editor's review

This passage begins with a visit to an old warship sunk at the bottom of the river, setting the crowd's speculation about the cause of the sinking and the holes piercing the warship's hull alongside the narrator's feelings upon meeting a disabled man in the street, in a tone that is calm yet dull with pain. Xiao Hong does not dramatize scenes of war; instead, through the ordinary act of viewing a ruin, she writes of the complex psychology of people confronting injury and violence. The book is suited to readers interested in modern prose and the writing of war memory, and also serves as a model for writing, showing how short sentences and concrete objects can carry a heavy theme. As you read, notice the narrator's emotional progression from 'study' to 'nonsense' to 'cruelty,' and feel the critical force beneath Xiao Hong's restrained language.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Prose readers interested in war memory and the writing of injury
Writing enthusiasts who want to learn how objects can carry emotion
Readers who admire Xiao Hong's calm, restrained narrative style
Readers concerned with the relationship between the everyday and violence in modern literature

Not a good fit for

Readers sensitive to descriptions of war and injury
Readers expecting a complete plot or a clear conclusion
Readers who prefer light, lyrical prose

Reading tips

As you read, note the gap between the crowd's speculation and the narrator's judgment, and feel the ironic tone.
Consider the holes in the sunken warship alongside the disabled man's body, and trace how Xiao Hong links the fate of objects and people.
Read it aloud a second time to feel the rhythm and emotional pressure created by the pauses between short sentences.

版权信息
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FAQ

What event does this passage mainly describe?

It mainly describes the narrator and companions going to see the warship 'Lijie,' sunk to the riverbed when it was defeated in battle with Soviet Russia in 1929. The crowd offers various guesses about the cause of the sinking, while the narrator, from the holes in the warship, thinks of the disabled man met in the street. The core is not the battle itself but the psychological response to viewing the ruin.

Why does it say 'such a warship makes one feel cruelty'?

Because the damage on the warship, 'one hole after another,' directly presents the traces left by violence, and the narrator places it alongside the disabled man who lost his legs on the battlefield, so that the military ruin and human injury mirror each other. This association turns the viewer from curiosity to a heavy sense of the consequences of violence, hence the word 'cruelty.'

Is this suitable as a writing model?

Yes. This passage shows how to enter from an ordinary act of viewing, use the crowd's speculation to create noise, and then close on an emotional judgment through concrete objects (the holes, the disabled man). The short sentences are clean and the emotional progression layered, making it suitable for studying the use of objects and control of narrative rhythm in prose.

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About the author

Xiao Hong Author · China · 1911–1942

Xiao Hong, originally named Zhang Naiying, was a modern Chinese woman writer from Hulan, Heilongjiang. She rose to fame in 1935 with The Field of Life and Death. Her works are mostly set in the rural society of Northeast China, focusing on how ordinary people live and struggle with fate in turbulent times, with delicate, compassionate writing. Her representative work Tales of Hulan River unfolds through memories of her hometown and its people; its plain, natural language and essay-like narration portray local customs and individual experience, and it is regarded as an important achievement of modern Chinese literature. Works such as Ma Bole and Commercial Street also show her sustained observation of social reality and daily life. She died in Hong Kong in 1942 at the age of thirty-one. The library holds 175 of her works, commonly classified as social fiction and classics, reflecting her lasting influence among readers and publishers.