Chronicle of A Blood Merchant by Yu Hua - why I love this novel.

In this video I discuss Chronicle of A Blood Merchant by Yu Hua. Yu Hua was born in 1960 and grew up during the cultural revolution in China. He was a dentist for a while before becoming a full time writer. Today he is one of the most popular Chinese novelists. His most famous novel is To Live and he also wrote a book titled China in 10 words, about his observations and experiences of China’s recent history. Chronicle of A Blood Merchant is made into a South Korean movie in 2014.

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[ednalopez]

Thanks for your time and work. Yes to Videos about Chinese Literature so as to understand more their thoughts and way of living as a country and from the Authors /characters perspective.

Your channel is Addictive.

[jamescolbourne]

I finished this book today and loved it. Thank you very much for the recommendation. And keep up the great work.

[andrewdunbar]

I would love to see more videos on Chinese novels as it's a literary world unknown to me even thought I've spent a year or more travelling there. In fact I'd love to see more videos on novels from Asian cultures beyond Japan. Japan has so many well known authors from many eras and in many genres, but it's very hard to think of a single novelist from Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, The Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, or Vietnam. Even India, all the novelists with Indian names that spring to mind seem to be British. There must be novels written originally in languages such as Hindi or Tamil surely? I'd also be interested in authors from other Chinese cultures such as Taiwan and Hong Kong.

[sharontheodore]

This is such a sweet and heart touching story. It was not a spoiler to know what the protagonist will decide re his illegitimate son. It was predictable, not only because there are movies made along the same line but also because being human means exactly that.
I have read every single book by Anchee Min, a Chinese who grew up in the States and who wrote extensively about the sufferings and injustices resulting from communist China through depicting the simple life of Chinese families. I like her books because she uses a lot of local proverbs and adages to reflect Chinese wisdom. Thank you so much.

[donaldkelly]

My knowledge of Chinese fiction is small, but I plan on starting the Story of the Stone soon.

[lipshaha]

I read this novel and 'Brothers' in Korean. The Chronicle of a Blood Merchant was very interesting, but 'Brothers' is also a masterpiece. The Great Leap Forward Movement and the Cultural Revolution, which often appear in Chinese novels, must have given the Chinese a tremendous ordeal. I commend the Chinese people for overcoming the ordeal and developing themselves.
As a great power that has always been at the center of history, I hope that China will become not only the economy but also the center of true world culture and peace.

[brunfranc]

This is a very common theme in chinese literature. A very confucian theme is family/community first, individuality second or third. If you look at classic novels, they are basically about this collectivist mentality.