Water Town Series

Wu Zhouxing

21st Century Publishing Group

June 2021

150.00 （CNY）

Brief introduction：

Taking the water lanes of the small towns in the south of the Yangtze River （Jiangnan） as the background of the stories， this series of books not only present the bright and beautiful pictures of local life and customs， but also vividly depict many children with different life experiences and personalities. It is a set of novels about local culture and customs with the author’s sincere feelings. The author uses clear and bright words and collects the vibrant details of life in the water lanes to support and promote her peaceful， smooth and charm-lasting narrative. From these stories， we see the vigor， fertility and endless hope in childhood. The author， Wu Zhouxing， having grown up in a Jiangnan water town， is familiar with the clear creeks， curved bridges， water lanes filled with black-awning boats， the sound of sculls and songs from boatmen in the morning fog and twilight. Therefore， her works are soft， clean and clear， as if they themselves have been washed in water.

Wu Zhouxing

Wu Zhouxing is a young children’s literature writer born after 1985， and an outstanding new-generation writer. She has won many awards， including the Jiuge Modern Children’s Literature Prize， Taiwan Mu Di Award for Excellent Works， the Bing Xin Children’s Literature Award for New Writers， the Shanghai Literature Short Story New Writer Contest Award for Excellent Work， the Golden Award for Children’s Literature， the “Excellent Youth Publishing Project” Award of Publicity Department of CPC 2016， the 7th China Excellent Publication Award， and so on.

Novels related to water towns are often very beautiful. The Yuan River in Shen Congwen’s novel， the Lotus Lake in Sun Li’s， the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal in Liu Shaotang’s， the Gaoyou Lake in Wang Zengqi’s and the water towns in northern Jiangsu in Cao Wenxuan’s are all good examples. Their novels are “born out of water”， glittering with bright sunshine and clear river. Water not only nourishes their lives， but also moistens their writing.

Wu Zhouxing， growing up in a Jiangnan water town， is familiar with the clear creeks， curved bridges， water lanes filled with black-awning boats， the sound of sculls and songs from boatmen in the morning fog and twilight. Therefore， her novels are soft， clean and clear， as if they themselves have been washed in water.

The series of Water Lanes takes the water lanes of the small town in Jiangnan as the background of the stories， not only presenting the bright and beautiful pictures of the local life and customs， but also vividly depicting many children with different life experiences and personalities. This series consists of five novels， each of which is not long in length and without any feature complex plots. Instead， the author uses clear and bright prose to collect the vibrant details of life in the water lanes to support and promote her peaceful， calm and charming narrative. From these stories， we see these little protagonists including Xiaoling， Caosheng， Xiaoman， Baoshou， Chengzi， as well as their friends Baozu， Zhusheng， Fuguan， Tongsuo and Hutou. We can feel the vigor， fertility and endless hope from these children.

We can see that teenagers accept and absorb the wisdom and courage needed in their growth from the details in each story. For example， in the book of Snow White Tofu， the girl Xiaoling began to help her mother make and sell tofu from a very young age. When she went out with the shoulder pole to sell tofu for the first time， her mother told her， “Xiaoling， wait until dawn to set forth. We still have time.” It was the first time that the little girl was to go out to sell tofu， so she was a little nervous and timid. However， when seeing the occasional appearance of the delivery men， she gained some more courage. When selling tofu， vendors usually shouted loudly. At the beginning， Xiaoling shouted， “Tofu — fresh tofu —” Her shout was long but thin， and as soon as she finished her shouting， her face turned red quickly. At this time， an old farmer nodded and told her， “Shout more loudly. You are not stealing or robbing， so what are you afraid of？” Xiaoling nodded and shouted a few more times to gain some confidence. Such details vividly and clearly depict the inner mind and growth of such a kind-hearted gentle girl.

However， this set of books are also filled with a soft， spring-water-like lingering homesickness， exuding a deep love and nostalgia for local culture and traditional customs. Each novel depicts at least one traditional craft. For example， Snow White Tofu tells a story about a tofu shop along the water lane， delicately describing the whole process of how the little girl Xiaoling and her mother made tofu： soaking the beans， changing the water， grinding， boiling， coagulating and wrapping the tofu. The protagonist of Home on a Duck’s Back is a young boy tending ducks. Presumably the author is also very nostalgic for her childhood when she tended ducks and collected duck eggs. In The Drifting Paper Boat， the author tells a story about a special kind of artists — blind fortune-tellers， who used to be seen in the water lanes. Just like the rural storytellers， they aroused the curiosity and imagination of many children. Iron Flowers is about the life of blacksmiths and tinkers living in the water lanes. Children of Bodhisattva tells about Dishui Nunnery in water lane： from an unknown date， there were always some children， who cannot be brought up by their parents， being secretly placed at the gate of Dishui Nunnery. The life experiences of the nun Huineng and the little protagonist， Baoshou， were closely related to the Nunnery. These works depict the kind human nature， convey the view of life that “every creature， including every insect， bird and beast， is life”， and bring readers a warm nostalgia.

Jiangnan towns and water lanes are not only a geographical and rural concept， but also a kind of culture and living state. The tranquil and appealing water lanes in Jiangnan is a symbol of the clarity， calmness and peace of life， and a nurture for heart and symbol of tranquility as well. Time strides over the stone bridges gently and flows forward along the lucid creeks slowly; black-awning boats come and go， laden with joy and hardships， as well as generations of people’s expectations and dreams for a happy life. The quiet water lanes are always connected with deep nostalgia. To me， the Water Lanes series is also a set of novels full of author’s sincere feelings on local customs and culture. With these water-associated stories， the author conveys her beautiful nostalgia and deep affection for hometown in her inner heart： in daily life of each family of different generations， there are joy and sorrow， parting and gathering， sadness， hopes and dreams.

The charm of the beautiful water lanes and unforgettable childhood will always be remembered， so long as we pass it down from generation to generation. The charm lies in the traditional customs and virtues of the water lanes， as well as their eternal culture and nostalgia towards the water lanes.

January 12， 2021

Liyuan， Wuchang District， Wuhan