A Matriarchal Family: A novel of three women's lives in rural China

Editor's Note: Contemporary Chinese literature is remarkably rich, encompassing a wide variety of genres such as novels, poetry and essays. This column will guide you through appreciative readings of these works.

A Matriarchal Family, a full-length novel, depicts the lives of three women across two generations over six decades in Shanxi province — one of the birthplaces of Chinese civilization — from the early 1950s to the early 21st century.

They are respectively the mother Lanying, an inheritor of traditional values; the daughter-in-law Hongfang, an indifferent follower of traditional norms; and the daughter Xiujuan, a rebel against traditional conventions. The novel is divided into three volumes, each focusing on one woman. While independent of one another, the three volumes are closely connected in plot and form an integrated whole.

Through the life experiences of the three female protagonists, the novel reflects an era of profound transformation: the ideas and norms people once rigidly pursued and abided by are quietly evolving with the times, embodying the steady progress of history.

About the author

Li Junhu was born in Hongtong, Shanxi in October 1975. He is a member of the National Committee of the China Writers Association and Chairman of Shanxi Writers Association, and also serves as a member of the National Committee of the CPPCC and the Central Committee of the China Democratic League. He was awarded the 5th Lu Xun Literature Prize.

His major works include the eight-volume Collected Works of Li Junhu, full-length novel The Chinese Battlefield: United in Resistance against Japanese Aggression, prose collections and poetry. Among them, his novel A Matriarchal Family has been translated into English and issued overseas. 

Excerpts

When Xiujuan was one year old, Lanying saw Chansion ("The Gangster"), for the first time. Before Xiujuan's birth, Lanying was slim, high-breasted, thin-waisted and wide-bottomed, walking fast, showing her attractiveness; after the birth, she turned into the shape of a piece of fermented dough, extending a little all around, whiter swelling, walking and thinking.( Beginning of Chapter 2）

Hongfang was innocent, full of question marks inside, but was careful not to mention Xiujuan's marriage or dared not to ask Xiujuan.（Chapter 11, page 131）

Xiujuan went to Lanying's room and told her sleeping mother, "You are ridiculous. You aren't reasonable when you are old; I'm forty. Why can't I know right or wrong? How can you treat me like this? I'm busy. I have no time to be angry with you. You sleep if you like, and I go."（Chapter 20, page 243）

Review

"A delightful surprise novel" "Grand framing" "Discerning a single family reveals the ethical landscape of rural China" — Lei Da, celebrated critic

"Biographing contemporary Chinese rural women, like that of A Dream of Red Mansions" — Wang Chunlin, noted critic

"'A Matriarchal Family' - A wonderful story of family politics from a family to the whole society" — Ma Dun, critic