Pipa Wei

Wen Yanxia

Jiangxi People’s Publishing House

December 2020

59.80 （CNY）

Brief introduction：

Based on the real story of Pipa Wei， a poor village in the former Central Soviet Area of Southern Jiangxi Province， this book artistically reproduces the miracle of the alleviation of poverty of the old liberated area. In this poor enclosed house which is full of Hakka decor and the warmth of human nature， the author， as a female writer， vividly portrays a group of amiable and respectable figures with delicate writing technique， talent and tension. These small figures in the enclosed house vividly deduce the story of poverty alleviation， the spirit of the Soviet Area through time and space， and the great changes of grand time and space on the red land. Therefore， this book is an epic about the relocation of poor mountainous areas in southern Jiangxi， which reflects the historical fact that the people in the Soviet area got rid of poverty， pursued a better life and realized their dreams under the leadership of the CPC.

Wen Yanxia

Wen Yanxia was born in Anyuan， Jiangxi Province. She is a contemporary female writer， asenior editor of Jiangxi Radio and Television Station， deputy chairman of Jiangxi Federation of Literary and Art Circles， and vice chairman of the sixth and seventh sessions of Jiangxi Writers’ Association. She has won the titles of “advanced worker” in the national radio， film and television system， one of the national top 100 journalists， one of the national excellent journalists， etc. She has been selected as a famous cultural master of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee， and obtained the special allowance of the State Council.

In recent years， there have been many long novels on the subject of poverty eradication， which have gradually become a hot topic and the focus of much attention. It is gratifying to see the increasing number of socially conscious literature， but what is more anticipated is the arrival of a literary peak. Wen Yanxia’s Pipa Wei" stands out among the long novels in 2020， a heavy and distinctive one on the subject of the fight against poverty. It focuses on the theme of poverty alleviation and the challenge of inspiring others， and accurately reflects the difficulties involved in alleviating poverty. It is easy to find a good topic to write about， but difficult to write about it well. A good theme is often considered impossible to do justice， deterring people from writing and leaving many afraid of spoiling the theme; but if they write it well， they will have created a wonderful masterpiece in the pantheon of literature. It is clear that Wen has done that， and her superb understanding of the theme and impressive presentation make Pipa Wei a stunning piece of work in 2020. Its theme is the core value of this novel and an important mark that distinguishes it from others. Its success， in a sense， is precisely the success of narrative that she fleshed out.

Pipa Wei tells a story of the relocation of all of Pipa Wei， a poor village in the former Central Soviet Area of Southern mountainous area of Jiangxi Province. It mainly tells the story of He Jinhua and Jin Caifeng， members of the poverty alleviation team， who successfully helped Shi Haocai， a lazy alcoholic， nicknamed “two and a half jin” （2 jin = 1 kilo）， to become a capable person to get rid of poverty. In detail， the author， through the unfolding of the ups and downs of one story after another， has successfully portrayed some poverty-alleviation cadres such as He Jinhua， Jin Caifeng， and Yang Ming， poverty-relief targets such as Shi Haocai， Zhu Xuefei， and Xu Xiuzhen， as well as the old Chinese People’s Red Army soldiers and their families， such as Uncle Dumb and Lady Orange. It makes those small characters memorable through vivid character descriptions; in particular， Shi Haocai – Wen has brought to life the transformation of a rascally drunkard and poverty-stricken do-nothing into a poverty overcomer. His successful portrayal also illustrates a truth – the key to measuring the success or failure of poverty alleviation is not only to strictly implement poverty alleviation policies without compromise， but more importantly， the transformation of people’s minds and wills， which is the root of a complete farewell to poverty. The novel takes man-to-man work as the central goal of the narrative. In terms of narrative method， it blends poverty alleviation and the spirit of the Central Soviet Area together， cleverly connecting the two lines of stories on poverty alleviation and poverty eradication， so as to avoid the simplified writing in terms of content and structure， presenting readers with a realistic scene of poverty alleviation.