China witness : voices from a silent generation / Xinran ; translated from Chinese by Nicky Harman, Julia Lovell and Esther Tyldesley.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Xinran, 1958-

Language:

Chinese

English

Subjects (All):

China--Biography.

China.

China--History--20th century.

History.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

434 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, map ; 25 cm

Edition:

First U.S. edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Pantheon Books, [2009]

Summary:

An extraordinary work of oral history that illuminates the diverse ways in which the Chinese perceive and understand their own modern history.

Contents:

Yao Popo, or the Medicine Woman of Xingyi

Two generations of the Lin family: the curse of a legend

New discoveries in Xinjiang, the world's biggest prison

On the road, interlude 1: interview with a north-western taxi driver

Pioneers of China's oil: a distinguished husband and wife

Acrobat: from counter-revolutionary's daughter to national medal winner

On the road, interlude 2: talking to a Chinese colleague about Tibet, folk customs, tiger stoves and the Chinese Jews

Tea houses and news singers: three thousand years of anecdotes and wonders

Carrying on a craft tradition: the Qin Huai lantern-makers

Across mountain and grassland: a witness to the Long March

Savouring her blessings after trials and tribulations: the woman general born in America

Interlude 3: love letters

On the road, interlude 4: reflections between the lines

The policeman: a cop who entered the police force as the People's Republic was founded

The shoe-mender mother: 28 years spent out in all weathers

On the road, interlude 5: a squall at the 4 May memorial

Afterword: images of my motherland.

Notes:

"Originally published in Great Britain by Chatto & Windus, The Random House Group Limited, London, in 2008"--T.p. verso.

Includes index.

ISBN:

9780375425479

0375425470

OCLC:

232129581