Chinese Journal of Literary Criticism

No.3, 2022

The Record of Scenery and Charm of North China: Comment on Xu Zechen’s Novel Northward

(Abstract)

Meng Fanhua

Northward is a novel centered on the Grand Canal. It manifests the canal’s century-long historical destiny with a profound historical awareness, a sense of reality, and familiarity with the canal culture; its fascination with and exquisite description of the canal scenery realizes the pursuit of displaying a nation’s secret history through concrete “things”—details of history, thus demonstrating the author’s effective measurement and understanding of novel literariness. Northward is not only a record of scenery but also a record of charm. Despite the times, the love stories along the canal remains vigorous; they are the canal’s most beautiful stories, legend, and scenery. In the novel, the canal, a vast water permeated with thick fog and smoke, is also full of emotion and charm.