{"product_id":"the-artisans-a-vanishing-chinese-village-hardcover","title":"The Artisans: A Vanishing Chinese Village - Hardcover","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eShen Fuyu\u003c\/b\u003e (Author), \u003cb\u003eJeremy Tiang\u003c\/b\u003e (Translator)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eEvoking Studs Terkel, Shen Fuyu delivers a rollicking deep dive into working life in a small village in rural China, tracing the last 100 years of history.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBorn in Shen Village in Southeast China, Shen Fuyu grew up in a family of farmers. Years later, Shen, now a writer, returned to his hometown to capture the village's rich history in the face of industrialization. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThrough his own childhood memories and those of his ancestors, Shen resurrects the working life of Shen Village through interlinked stories of fifteen artisans as their lives intersect over the course of a century. While Shen's view of his hometown and his heritage is tinged with nostalgia, he does not romanticize it. Nor does he sugarcoat the backbreaking difficulty of life in rural China, but he still captures its small satisfactions and joys of loving one's work with a great deal of care. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn an acerbic, earthy and unsparing style that swings from poignancy to comedy, sometimes within a single paragraph, Shen evokes the spirits of these workers--a bamboo-weaver and his beloved bull, a carpenter's magical saw, the deserter who became the village lantern-maker and a rebellious woman who beats up her own kidnapper. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA reflection on the vicissitudes of small-town life during the epic shift from agricultural to industrial civilization, \u003ci\u003eThe Artisans\u003c\/i\u003e vividly details the hardships, friendships and communal mythmaking of a disappearing community.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eShen Fuyu was born in Jiangsu, China in 1970. At the age of 18, he left home and drifted around the country, taking up a variety of jobs--porter, clerk, and schoolteacher--and began his writing career. He graduated from the Department of Chinese Language and Literature of Nanjing University in 1996, and has been working as a journalist for 20 years. Having published more than a dozen books, Shen is a full-time writer now and lives in Paris.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 256\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.1 x 9.1 x 6.3 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e January 04, 2022\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51767344955680,"sku":"9781662600753","price":26.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/9764\/5344\/files\/872f8c805bad6c98266b56cc72bf99dd.webp?v=1780309540","url":"https:\/\/ebocreations.com\/products\/the-artisans-a-vanishing-chinese-village-hardcover","provider":"The E-Book Oasis LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}