Born in 1958

翟德芳Zhonghua Book Company · ChinaNov 2024

Rating 2.9
Word count
167K words
Chapters
79
ISBN
9787101168044

Tags

Classic Works Family BondsLife PhilosophyDaily ReflectionsHeartwarming NarrativeDocumentary NarrativeSocial Observation

Summary

This book is a personal history of life in mid-twentieth-century China. Written in an essayistic style, it recalls the author's first two decades from various angles: the natural environment and local customs of his hometown, his upbringing and schooling, the methods of various farm chores, the distinctive foods of his region, his parents' arduous struggle to support the family, the joys and sorrows of his fellow villagers, and the anguish and yearnings of his youth, culminating in his admission to university and the transformation of his life. Set against a backdrop of vast and profound social change, the book portrays individual destiny amid the tides of the era.

Editor's review

Born in 1958 is a distinctive text in which personal memory intertwines with the pulse of an era. With the rigor of a veteran editor at Zhonghua Book Company, Zhai Defang embeds his own coming-of-age into the grand narrative of the People's Republic. The book's value lies not only in chronicling the life trajectory of a cultural worker over more than sixty years, but also in offering a microcosmic perspective on China's social transformation. From childhood memories of the Three Years of Great Famine to career choices after Reform and Opening Up, and reflections amid the digital wave in publishing, every experience refracts the collective mood and individual choices of a particular historical moment.

As a publisher, Zhai Defang's narrative bears a distinct professional imprint: attention to factual detail, pursuit of precise expression, and a sustained intellectual self-awareness. His descriptions of internal work at Zhonghua Book Company and records of the editing and publishing process for classical texts open a window onto the operating mechanisms of traditional publishing. A memoir with this professional perspective is especially valuable among comparable personal histories.

Notably, the author does not wallow in nostalgia but analyzes with calm restraint how era-defining changes shaped individual fate. His accounts of key junctures—educated youth sent to the countryside, restoration of the college entrance examination, structural reform of cultural institutions—combine personal warmth with historical depth. This balance elevates the book beyond mere autobiography, giving it reference value for social history.

Reading the book requires some historical background, but the author's plain, fluent style lowers the threshold. Interspersed publishing anecdotes and scenes from cultural circles add liveliness to the serious historical narrative. For readers concerned with the intellectual journey of contemporary Chinese intellectuals and the evolution of publishing culture, this is a text worth reading closely.

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Reading tips

  1. Read alongside the corporate history of Zhonghua Book Company and related publishing-history materials
  2. When encountering historical events mentioned in the book, consult sources from other perspectives for comparison
  3. Note how the author's professional editorial perspective shapes the narrative

About the publisher

Zhonghua Book Company China · Founded in 1912

Zhonghua Book Company is a publisher known for collating ancient texts and academic publishing, with its output centered on Eastern philosophy, culture, classic works, art, and historical reading. Its library contains 532 titles, including Chen Shou's Records of the Three Kingdoms, Guo Qingfan's Collected Commentaries on Zhuangzi, the four-volume Chinese Literature: Four Great Classical Novels, and the two-volume Table of Seal and Clerical Script Forms from Qin, Han, Wei, and Jin. These titles span historical classics, commentaries on the philosophers, classical novels, and philological reference works. Representative authors include Chen Shou, Guo Qingfan, Wu Cheng'en, Shi Nai'an, Cao Xueqin, Luo Guanzhong, Xu Wenwu, and the Hanyu Dazidian character-form group, reflecting a focus on primary sources and scholarly editors. Its publishing character lies in combining authoritative editions and annotated texts with both accessible classics and specialized research. Public information on its fuller catalog is limited; this note describes only the directions evident in the library's holdings.

Contents

  1. 版权信息
  2. 自我“考古”
  3. 写在前面
  4. 一 我的家乡我的家
  5. 家乡小地理
  6. 人民公社集体经济
  7. 乡村政治
  8. “成分”种种
  9. 贫困的乡土
  10. 供销社和集市
  11. 文化生活
  12. 医疗卫生与土方治病
  13. 婚姻与家庭
  14. 妇女与青年
  15. 儿童与乡村游戏
  16. 环境小沧桑
  17. 乡亲们
  18. 我的家世
  19. 二 成长与求学
  20. 两次险死还生
  21. 儿童眼里的运动
  22. “反标”惊魂
  23. 短暂的“号手”生涯
  24. 七年级的壮劳力
  25. 成为“运动员”
  26. 战荒山与拉河泥
  27. 阶级斗争小分队
  28. 老师和同学们
  29. 三 那些繁重的农活啊！
  30. 农事概说
  31. 水稻育秧
  32. 春播忙
  33. 夏耘勤
  34. 插秧累
  35. 水田除草
  36. 打药与追肥
  37. 秋收之乐
  38. 脱谷与扬场
  39. 分粮食
  40. 学大寨
  41. 积肥与运肥
  42. 四 苦撑家门
  43. 母亲撑起一片天
  44. 穷人的孩子早当家
  45. 担水与磨面
  46. 种菜的甘苦
  47. 薅洋草与卡草包
  48. 我的家园我打理
  49. 我家的动物群落
  50. 百物可卖的岁月
  51. 说不尽的慈母恩
  52. 五 难忘的家常吃食
  53. 把主粮吃出花样
  54. 蔬菜、咸菜和酱菜
  55. 巧吃酸菜
  56. 所谓“野味”
  57. 过年的快乐
  58. 难忘的美味
  59. 百物可吃的时光
  60. 六 难能书
  61. 始于“墙报”的阅读
  62. 小人书
  63. 看“大书”的经历
  64. 姐姐的课本
  65. 读鲁迅与读社会
  66. 人生的首次阅读山河
  67. 读书有多么不易！
  68. 当年读书留憾多
  69. 七 巨变前后
  70. 务农初心
  71. 第一份入党申请书
  72. 成为大队干部
  73. 新手通讯员
  74. 有人提亲
  75. 从通讯员到民办教师
  76. 短命的教师经历
  77. 初次参加高考
  78. 考上了大学
  79. 后记

FAQ

Is this book a strict autobiography? It is closer to a combination of personal memoir and social observation; the author refracts an era through personal experience rather than following a traditional linear autobiography.
What background knowledge helps in understanding the book? Familiarity with major historical events in China from the 1950s to the early 21st century, especially changes in culture and education, helps contextualize the text.
What distinguishes this book from memoirs by others of the same generation? The author's identity as a veteran publisher gives the book a unique perspective, with particularly detailed and professional records of publishing-industry change and relatively little emotional expression.

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About the author

翟德芳 Author

Zhai Defang appears only in a limited body of publicly available material. The name is listed among Chinese book authors, and one work is held in the collection, Born in 1958. Judging from the existing classification, the book is grouped under classic works, which suggests a distinctly literary quality and a clear sense of its era. The title points to a specific birth year and readily evokes a narrative that uses individual life experience as a lens on broader social change, giving the work a reflective, perhaps commemorative tone. Because dates of birth and death, nationality, education, and professional career cannot be confirmed, no further inferences about the author's life should be made. Based on the available information, Zhai Defang's writing rests on personal subject matter and tends toward a steady, restrained style, offering a degree of readability and reference value among works of its kind; readers may learn more about the texture of the writing from the work itself.