Identify Books In Favor Of Chinese Lives: An Oral History of Contemporary China

Original Title: Chinese Lives: An Oral History of Contemporary China
ISBN: 0140116257 (ISBN13: 9780140116250)
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Chinese Lives: An Oral History of Contemporary China Paperback | Pages: 367 pages
Rating: 3.93 | 30 Users | 5 Reviews

Narration To Books Chinese Lives: An Oral History of Contemporary China

Highly enjoyable. Oral histories recorded during the early 1980's - Deng Xiaoping's China. A variety of people from different walks of life describe their experiences of life in China throughout the 20th century; the Kuomintang government, Mao's Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution, economic reform beginning in 1979. Absolutely fascinating. This is China from as seen through its own eyes. The information is a bit dated as China has opened up even more since the writing and Hong Kong is back under Chinese control.

My personal favorite sections focused on women and the difficulties they face in what is historically a paternalistic society. Ancient Footprints (A woman with bound feet), Her Past (A woman sold to a brothel at 14), Planning Her Family (a woman paying fines and hiding for having multiple children under the one child policy), and Good Looks (a woman struggling with the burdens of beauty) stood out as particularly intense and moving.

This book is out of print. I was lucky enough to stumble onto it in the Asian Studies section of a second hand bookshop. Highly recommended if you can track it down.

Specify About Books Chinese Lives: An Oral History of Contemporary China

Title:Chinese Lives: An Oral History of Contemporary China
Author:Zhang Xinxin
Book Format:Paperback
Book Edition:Deluxe Edition
Pages:Pages: 367 pages
Published:1989 by Penguin (first published 1987)
Categories:Cultural. China. Nonfiction. Biography. Anthologies. Literature. Asian Literature

Rating About Books Chinese Lives: An Oral History of Contemporary China
Ratings: 3.93 From 30 Users | 5 Reviews

Criticism About Books Chinese Lives: An Oral History of Contemporary China
Zhang Xinxin and Sang Ye co-authored this pioneering work of Chinese oral history - it created an enormous sensation in China when the histories eventually collected into a book began appearing in Chinese journals in the mid-80s. They didn't use a tape recorder, however, re-creating the interviews later (a method still used by Liao Yiwu, author of the Corpse Walker). I think Sang Ye's later work as an oral historian is better - he began using a tape recorder and the amount of detail and the

I stole this from my brother John about 17 years ago, but only now got around to reading it. These were magnificent. 64 masterfully recorded and recounted interviews set down in 1985 and 1986 about the lives of mainland Chinese people from all over China, all ages, all walks of life. Not exactly contemporary anymore in 2008 (cf. the subtitle), but very fascinating nonetheless (and almost exactly coinciding with the China I knew from the 4 mos. I spent traveling around there in 1987 and 1988,

A most phenomenal book. Over 60 people give accounts of their lives, giving the reader an amazing look at ordinary people in Deng Xiaoping's China. All too often the stories are sad, painful, and tragic, microcosms of China itself. It is a welcome and powerful antidote to the dry remove that history books usually (and reasonably) take.

Wish the translators had rendered each of the interviews into a representational accent as they initially planned to but - on second thought - it's probably best they didn't. Some genuinely moving and memorable passages. I'm looking forward to having a look at the same technique applied to the states.



Zhang Xinxin is a Chinese writer. She is best known in the for her book of 100 interviews with ordinary citizens Chinese Profiles (Beijing 1986), revised as Chinese Lives (1988). The book was co-authored with journalist Sang Ye.I stole this from my brother John about 17 years ago, but only now got around to reading it. These were magnificent. 64 masterfully recorded and recounted interviews set down in 1985 and 1986 about the lives of mainland Chinese people from all over China, all ages, all walks of life. Not exactly contemporary anymore in 2008 (cf. the subtitle), but very fascinating nonetheless (and almost exactly coinciding with the China I knew from the 4 mos. I spent traveling around there in 1987 and 1988,