Autumn River

Yu DafuMay 2026

Rating 4.1

Word count: 45K words
Chapters: 28

Summary

Autumn River uses reverse chronology to tell a strange, chaotic story of love and emotion. In a grand Western-style mansion in Shanghai's French Concession, the young wife of Governor Lü and his son share an ambiguous relationship. The son was born to the widow of the commander who had mentored the governor, after the governor's first wife died young; his biological father is unknown... Also included is The Rambler's Journey, an autobiographical story by the author, anguished and grounded in reality; Spring Breeze on a Drunken Night is a famous piece by the author, telling of a down-and-out writer and a cigarette factory worker who share lodgings and then come to know each other. The wounds of the era are as fine as cracks; Autumn Willow tells of a group of intellectuals and the women of the demi-monde. These texts are sorrowful, cold, and profound, with delicate, vivid depiction and a strong sense of scene.

Editor's review

Autumn River brings together several of Yu Dafu's most distinctive modes: ambiguous emotion under a reverse-chronological structure, autobiographical confession of anguish, the restrained yet warm encounter between a down-and-out writer and a working-class woman, and the complex human ties between intellectuals and women of the demi-monde. The prose is sorrowful and cold yet delicately drawn, with a strong sense of scene; the fissures of the era hide in everyday detail, and reading it offers both lyrical atmosphere and the sharpness of social observation. For readers who want to understand how the "self" was written in modern Chinese fiction, and how the city and concession spaces carried emotion and identity, this collection is a good entry point. While reading, pay attention to how the author handles narrative perspective, temporal order, and emotional rhythm: the reverse chronology is not a display of technique but a way to let secrets and repression surface layer by layer. It suits slow reading in quiet hours; reading the pieces against one another reveals the real-world concerns and narrative craft behind Yu Dafu's sentimentality.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who love the lyrical tradition of modern literature and autobiographical fiction
Students who want to study Yu Dafu's narrative technique and the writing of urban space
Readers who can accept a sorrowful, cold tone and prefer delicate psychological portrayal
General readers who want a short-story collection to understand the human scene of the Republican-era concessions

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer bright, light stories with strong plot momentum
Readers who are sensitive to ambiguous romance and anguished autobiographical subjects
Beginners who want a systematic literary-historical introduction or detailed annotations

Reading tips

Read Spring Breeze on a Drunken Night first to build a feel for the language, then return to Autumn River to appreciate the suspense of its reverse chronology.
Read The Rambler's Journey against the other pieces in the book, noting the boundary between autobiographical method and fictional narrative.
Keep a pen handy to mark time shifts and changes of perspective, then look back after finishing to see how structure serves emotional expression.
Pause after each piece and write down the one image that moved you most, then link the emotional threads of the whole book.

版权信息
茑萝行
春风沉醉的晚上
（一）
（二）
（三）
（四）
秋河
（一）
（二）
（三）
秋柳
一
二
三
四
五
六
七
八
九
十
十一
怀乡病者
（一）
（二）
（三）
（四）

FAQ

Is Autumn River a novel or a short-story collection?

From the material, Autumn River includes, besides the title piece, works such as The Rambler's Journey, Spring Breeze on a Drunken Night, and Autumn Willow; it should be regarded as a collection titled Autumn River, with each piece standing alone, suitable for reading separately or for comparing the narrative methods and emotional tones of each.

Can I understand it without a background in modern literature?

Yes. Each story has concrete characters and scenes and can be entered without specialized knowledge. To read more deeply, note the period background such as concession spaces, family relations, and working-class occupations, but you need not take a literary-history course first; simply follow the characters' emotions and the narrative rhythm.

Why is the book said to have a strong "sense of scene"?

The material stresses its delicate, vivid depiction; scenes such as the mansion, rented lodgings, factories, and places of the demi-monde are easy for readers to picture. While reading, pay attention to the author's rendering of light, movement, and details of objects; such descriptions often carry emotional and identity information rather than serving only as backdrop.

Which piece is best for beginners?

To first feel the warmth of the narrative, start with Spring Breeze on a Drunken Night, which centers on a down-and-out writer and a cigarette factory worker who share lodgings and come to know each other, with a relatively concentrated set of relationships; then read Autumn River to experience the tension of reverse chronology and ambiguous relations, and finally The Rambler's Journey for its autobiographical anguish.

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About the author

Yu Dafu Author · Chinese · 1896–1945

Yu Dafu (1896–1945), originally named Yu Wen and styled Dafu, was a native of Fuyang, Zhejiang, and a prominent modern Chinese writer as well as one of the founders of the Creation Society. He wrote mainly fiction and prose. His early novella Sinking shocked the literary world with its bold self-exposure and melancholy tone, while short stories such as Springtime in a Drunken Night and Late Osmanthus depict intellectuals' anguish and drifting through lyrical atmosphere. His prose is candid and strongly autobiographical, and he left a mark in biography, social fiction, and miscellaneous essays. The collection includes 130 of his works, among them Reminiscences of Lu Xun, complete prose collections, and selected short stories. During the War of Resistance he went to Singapore to engage in anti-Japanese propaganda, later fled to Sumatra, was secretly killed by Japanese military police in 1945, and was posthumously recognized as a revolutionary martyr in 1952.