This four-volume historical novel traces the life of Zhang Juzheng and the Wanli reforms in the Ming dynasty. The second volume follows the Jingcha inspections and the salary-reduction controversy, the third stages the struggle around reform, and the fourth turns to the restoration of imperial power and the collapse of the reforms.

It follows the balance of power that sustains reform until it begins to fall apart.

This novel follows the life of the writer Wu Wei and traces the changing fortunes of her family across generations. Through the marriages and lives of the women around her, it portrays the upheaval and memory of modern China.

A single woman’s life becomes a lens on modern China’s memory.

Set against half a century of Chinese history from the Anti-Japanese War to the aftermath of the Cultural Revolution, the novel follows Liang Daya and others through military and civilian life. It paints people caught up in their times from both the battlefield and everyday life.

War memory and human endurance are layered into one sweeping story.

Set in and around a state-owned enterprise during the reform era, the novel portrays the strain between family life and the system. It sharply brings to the surface the ideals and uncertainties of those living through enterprise reform.

The era of reform brings both hesitation and courage.

Centered on an intellectual family that moves south with the Southwest Associated University, the novel depicts wartime China. Scholarship, family, flight, and solidarity overlap, and a warm style brings the era’s wounds into view.

It gently yet deeply portrays wartime exile and the lives of intellectuals.