死水微澜

Preface

My Father Li Jieren

Ripples Across Stagnant Water

Part One Prelude

Part Two Tianhui Town

Part Three Interflow

Part Four What Happened in Xingshun Grocery

Part Five Ripples Across Stagnant Water

Part Six Aftermath

This is one of a series of three novels set in and around Chengdu. In three volumes spanning a period of forty to fifty Ycars, this volume depicts the period of stagnation before the 1911 Revolution. The author Li Jicrcn (1891-1962), a native of Chengdu, was familiar with pcoplc from all walks of life, villagers, shopkeepers, prostitutes, landlords, gangstc'rs... Ilis writings are vwidly alive and he showed a truthful portrayal of society on the Chengdu Plain during those years. Attacking and satirizing the ignorance, conservatism and corruption which held the country back, he believed that China would win through to better times.
　　Today, as so many feudal traditions have re-surfaced, this novel is particularly topicat.