The Promise: Love and Loss in Modern China

by Xinran Xue, William Spence (Translator)

Overview

At the start of the twentieth century in China, the Hans were married in an elaborate ceremony before they were even born. They went on to have nine children and chose colours portrayed in some of their favourite poems as nicknames for them – Red, Cyan, Orange, Yellow, Green, Green Tangerine, Purple, Blue and Rainbow. Fate, and the sweep of twentieth-century history, would later divide them.

Xinran begins with the magic and tragedy of one young couple's wedding night in 1949, and goes on to tell personal experiences of loss, grief and hardship through China's extraordinary century.

A spellbinding and magical narrative, this is the story of modern China through the women who lived through it.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781448217892
Publisher:	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date:	09/08/2020
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	5.16(w) x 7.89(h) x 0.74(d)

About the Author

Xinran is a British-Chinese author, journalist and activist. She was the host of a pioneering Chinese radio show Words on the Night Breeze, which invited women to discuss their issues live on air. Her first book, The Good Women of China (2002), recounted some of these stories and has been translated into over thirty languages.

Table of Contents

Promises and 'Talking Love': My Inspirations for This Book ix

Map of China xiv

Key Dates xv

Introduction 1

Note on the Text 2

Part I A Love Coloured by Wars and Political Movements 3

First Sister, Red

Part II A Communist Family Tree 67

Second Sister, Green

Part III A Bird's Love during the Cultural Revolution 131

Green's Daughter, Crane

Part IV Diverse 'Lovers' 199

The 3D Generation: Lili, Yoyo, Wuhen

Afterword: In and Out the Door of Life 255

Author's Heartfelt Thanks 265

Editorial Reviews

Reporting on four generations of one Chinese family and their diverging paths, Xinran shows how the country’s social norms have changed through politics and the rise of modernity.” - New York Times

“Xinran Xue is a gifted storyteller and The Promise reads like an unputdownable novel. William Spence’s translation from Chinese into English cannot be over-praised.” – Washington BookReview

“[A] graceful work that restores a lost generation to history.” - Kirkus Review

From the Publisher