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"Moment in Peking"
by Lin Yutang
International Specialized Book Service Inc | June 1980 | ISBN 0899551661
Recommended by Wenjun Shi: The last book I read was Moment in Peking. Finishing this book was quite an achievement, as for a long time, it felt as though I was the only person among all my friends and family (and probably a large part of China) who had not read this book. It was one of those books I had always wanted to read but never quite got round to, until that is, I came to London and discovered lots of different versions of the book. This sparked my interest again and I found myself picking up something, which deep down, I thought Id never read.
Moment in Peking is quite a rarity it is a novel about Chinese social-history by a well-known Chinese author, but written originally in English and published first in 1939 in the US (where it sold over 50,000 copies in less than 6 months). Soon after, the book was released in China (in Chinese translation) where it was received with just as much interest.
Why is this book so popular in and outside of China? It is gives a comprehensive insight into an interesting period of 20th century Chinese history and social change. The novel spans almost 40 years from the Boxer Uprising in the 1900s to the Second Sino-Japanese War in the late 1930s. The story is seen largely through the eyes of Mulan Yao, the daughter of a prosperous upper-middle class family who lose their wealth as a result of the wars.
But can this account for its success in the US? One (tenuous) reason could be that when it was published, Moment in Peking was billed by some American critics as a Chinese Gone with the wind which had been released just few years earlier and was eagerly awaiting its transformation to the big screen. Could this popular hook be a reason why people bought this book in droves?
What ever the reason, now that I have read it (and seen the television series) I know that Moment in Peking is a highly entertaining book, and though it has multiple plot lines and a complex narrative structure, it is easy to read and carries a strong emotional impact. I highly recommend it.
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About the author: Lin Yutang (1895-1976) was a Chinese novelist, linguist, and philosopher.
