Autumn Garden

杨本芬Beijing United Publishing Co., Ltd. · ChinaDec 2025

Rating 4.5
Word count
89K words
Chapters
75
ISBN
9787559688736

Tags

Essays and Miscellany Historical ReappraisalPortrait GalleryFate and FortuneFamily BondsHeartwarming NarrativeSocial ObservationFemale Perspective

Summary

In her eighties, Yang Benfen tells the story of "my mother and me." In 1914, the world gained a person named Qiuyuan. In 1918, the Chinese language gained the character "she." Qiuyuan came, struggled, despaired, and knew happiness. Today, her eighty-year-old daughter tells the world about this ordinary woman.

"I have written the life story of an ordinary Chinese woman, of how our family struggled to survive like driftwood in the water, and of the lives and deaths of the country people in the heart of south-central China. I know the story I have written is like a drop of water that will eventually flow into the long river of human history."

Editor's review

At its core, Qiuyuan is a daughter's biography of her mother. Yang Benfen begins with her mother's birth in 1914 and moves through war, migration, poverty, and family upheaval, showing concretely and without sentimentality how an ordinary woman held life together. Its value lies not in grand judgments but in grounding "she came, she struggled, she despaired, she knew happiness" in the daily acts of eating, working, and raising children. The prose is clean and the pacing plain; reading it easily brings to mind one's own elders. It suits quiet reading sessions, a little at a time, letting the details settle; afterward, one might think back on the women in one's own family whose stories were never written down.

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Reading tips

  1. Read chronologically; when many characters appear, jot down their relationships to avoid confusion.
  2. One or two chapters at a time is enough—the emotional density is high, so there is no need to read it in one sitting.
  3. At key moments when the mother makes choices, pause to consider the social conditions of the time rather than rushing to judge.
  4. After finishing, try recording three to five details from an elder's life as an extended exercise.

About the publisher

Beijing United Publishing Co., Ltd. China · Founded in 1993

Beijing United Publishing Co., Ltd. is a publisher known for its literature and history titles, with 2,065 books in the collection. Its publishing covers foreign literature, contemporary Chinese prose and essays, history, folk literature, and cultural books. Its list ranges from Sima Qian's complete edition of the Records of the Grand Historian to foreign classics such as The Book of Disquiet, All Quiet on the Western Front, Snow Country, The Stranger, and Jean-Christophe, as well as modern Chinese works including Teahouse and Dawn Blossoms Plucked at Dusk. Its authors and translators include Yasunari Kawabata, Fernando Pessoa, Erich Maria Remarque, Jin Xinyi, Zhou Miao, and Chen Chao. Public information is limited, but its catalogue reflects a balance between Chinese and foreign literary classics and historical and cultural works.

Contents

  1. 版权信息
  2. 自序 厨房里的写作
  3. 第一章 洛阳 南京
  4. 一
  5. 二
  6. 三
  7. 四
  8. 五
  9. 六
  10. 第二章 山起台
  11. 一
  12. 二
  13. 三
  14. 四
  15. 第三章 花屋里
  16. 一
  17. 二
  18. 三
  19. 四
  20. 五
  21. 六
  22. 七
  23. 第四章 黄泥冲
  24. 一
  25. 二
  26. 三
  27. 四
  28. 五
  29. 六
  30. 七
  31. 八
  32. 九
  33. 十
  34. 十一
  35. 十二
  36. 第五章 赐福山
  37. 一
  38. 二
  39. 三
  40. 四
  41. 五
  42. 六
  43. 七
  44. 八
  45. 九
  46. 十
  47. 十一
  48. 十二
  49. 十三
  50. 十四
  51. 十五
  52. 十六
  53. 第六章 跑
  54. 一
  55. 二
  56. 三
  57. 四
  58. 五
  59. 六
  60. 七
  61. 八
  62. 九
  63. 十
  64. 十一
  65. 十二
  66. 十三
  67. 十四
  68. 第七章 归
  69. 一
  70. 二
  71. 三
  72. 四
  73. 五
  74. 六
  75. 代后记 解命运的谜——章红

FAQ

Is this book a novel or nonfiction? It is based on the real life of the author's mother, Qiuyuan, and uses a plain, oral-style narrative; it is closer to nonfiction family memory writing. The people and events have real-life prototypes, but it need not be read as rigorous historical record—the focus is on how the author tells and understands her mother's life.
Why is it described as writing about an "ordinary woman"? Qiuyuan has no legendary identity; her life is made up of housework, labor, migration, and child-rearing. The author does not elevate her into a hero but writes her endurance, limitations, and occasional happiness. Precisely because she is ordinary, readers easily think of the women elders in their own families.
Is it too painful to read? The book does contain poverty, separation, and grievance, but the author's tone is restrained; she does not deliberately heighten suffering and preserves much warmth in daily life. If you are sensitive to heavy subjects, read in sections, pausing after each chapter—there is no need to force yourself to read on continuously.

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About the author

杨本芬 Author

Yang Benfen is a Chinese author who came to public attention through writing in her later years. Public information about her is limited, and few reliable details of her early life or education are available. She has published five works, including the “Autumn Garden Trilogy”—Qiuyuan (Autumn Garden), Fumu (Floating Wood), and I Am Naturally Fragrant—as well as Douzi Zhima Cha (Bean and Sesame Tea). Her books are generally classified as social fiction and prose miscellany, focusing on ordinary family life, memories of kinship, and individual fates amid changing times. Her style is plain and restrained, drawing on everyday details and personal experience to portray the resilience and warmth of ordinary lives over the years. Although little is publicly known about her life and writing career, Yang Benfen has drawn readers through her honest, understated narration, preserving the memories and feelings of ordinary people and giving her work a distinctive place in contemporary Chinese writing.