Chinese Journal of Literary Criticism

No.3, 2024

Chronicles of Grass and Trees: Writings on Rural Revitalization under the Candlelight of Ecological Perspective

(Abstract)

Wang Chunlin

Included in the “Great Changes in Mountains and Towns in the New Era” series by the China Writers Association, Lao Teng’s Chronicles of Grass and Trees is a distinguished work of rural literature characterized by its vivid intellectual and artistic features shaped by a modern ecological perspective. The protagonist, referred to as “I,” embodies a tripartite function as a witness, a builder, and a writer. Amid the intersection of the two structural threads of reality and history, the novel presents the epochal proposition of rural revitalization in Northeastern China in the new era.