Ancient Ship

By Zhang Wei

Originally published in 1987, two years before the Tiananmen Square protests, Zhang Wei's award-winning novel is the story of three generations of the Sui, Zhao, and Li families living in the fictional northern town of Wali during China's troubled postliberation years.

Spanning four decades following the creation of the People's Republic in 1949, The Ancient Ship is a bold examination of a society in turmoil, the struggle of oppressed people to control their own fate, and the clash between tradition and modernization. In the course of the narrative, the townspeople of Wali face the moments that have defined China's history during the latter part of the twentieth century: the land reform programs, the famine of 1959-1961, the Great Leap Forward, the Anti-Rightist Campaign, and the Cultural Revolution. Translated into English for the very first time, The Ancient Ship is a revolutionary work of Chinese fiction that speaks to people across the globe.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Oct 13, 2009
• ISBN: 9780061860157

Zhang Wei

Zhang Wei is a member of the Chinese Writers Association, an organization for which he has served as the vice-chairman of the Shandong branch. He is one of the most widely respected Chinese fiction writers of the post-Mao era, and he lives in Beijing.

Reviews for Ancient Ship

[frogball_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I did not find this an easy book to read, but in the end I felt rewarded by the insights it offers into contemporary China and its people. It has no dramatic character-led narrative such as you might find in popular Western historical epics: the narrative does not lack dramatic incidents, but is not chronologically linear and is only obliquely connected to larger historical events. I feel that the locations, the people and the events are highly symbolic, and I was often frustrated by an insufficiently detailed knowledge of China. However, a little background reading, such as the review by Mike on his blog "Serve the People" can help a lot.