Novel on life and death of a funeral singer reveals history

Lao Sheng By: Jia Pingwa Publisher: People's Literature Publishing House Year published: 2014 Pages: 295 Price: 36 yuan ($5.86) Photo provided to China Daily

The deathbed of a rural funeral singer serves as the stage of Jia Pingwa's newest novel.

The protagonist of Lao Sheng—the title has multiple meanings in Chinese, including the elderly male role in Peking Opera, immortality and cliche—recalls the lives of about 100 characters, whose stories come to life as he remembers his travels among villages to sing in honor of the dead.

Their stories create a mosaic of how the past century of revolution, reform and social transformation has shaped a rural stretch of Shaanxi province's Qingling mountain range.

Most of the 52-year-old author's 15 books paint portraits of the rural realities that are largely disappearing amid modernization.

"Literature can record history but should do more than just that," Jia said at the book's launch hosted by People's Literature Publishing House last month at Peking University.

"A century is the blink of an eye when you consider the scale of history. You can view things objectively from this perspective."