Continuing from yesterday’s post about the book “Shen Congwen’s Xiangxi”: In the book’s introduction, artist Huang Yongyu said: “A comparison of literature and history can provoke new thoughts about each discipline. Like a fish chasing the tail of a fish in front of it, history and literature will always pursue each other through time.”
Published in 2004, the book described Huang as “one of China’s most famous cultural figures of the last half-century”. Like Shen, he suffered greatly during the Cultural Revolution. As I wrote this in June 2025, I learned that Huang died in 2023. Is it possible that Shen and Huang had imagined that one day in the future, someone in Australia would be reading their words? I hope they had.
But the photographer Zhou Ya is still alive and now an internationally renowned artist. Here are some of the photos taken from the book “Shen Congwen’s Xiangxi”. The people in these images are likely still alive, and what kind of lives would they have been leading? Would they know that a glimpse of their lives has been captured and lasted all these years, for someone on the other side of the world to ponder upon?
In Huang’s words: “Like the musical notes of a composer’s score, these photographs provide an insight into Shen Congwen’s literary legacy. These photos will illuminate and enrich generations of readers.” He then said: “I have high hopes for this unique volume of images. It shouldn’t be dressed up or made into a fancy art book. It should be simple, like Shen Congwen himself. Otherwise, I fear he will look down from heaven and laugh.” Great words.
(Day 22 #WarmWinterRead #WWR25 via @librarieschangelives)
Voices under the Sun 陽光下的聲音 