Synopsis:
A soaring literary achievement from internationally acclaimed writer Yu Hua, whose novels are now appearing in English for the first time, Chronicle of a Blood Merchant provides an unflinching portrait of China under Chairman Mao, as a factory worke must sell his blood to overcome every crisis.
Xu Sanguan is a Chinese everyman—a cart-pusher in a silk mill struggling under the cruelty and hardships of Mao’s leadership. His meager salary is not enough to sustain his family, so he pays regular visits to the local blood chief, followed by stops at the Victory Restaurant, where he pounds on the table and demands his ritual meal: “A plate of fried pork livers and two shots of yellow rice wine. And warm the wine up for me.”
But fried pork livers and yellow rice wine are not enough to restore Xu Sanguan. With the country in the throes of the Cultural Revolution, his visits to the blood chief become lethally frequent and his obligations to his family press against him mercilessly. At the height of famine, the Xu family lies motionless in bed, rising twice a day to consume increasingly watery rations of corn gruel. Xu Sanguan’s wife is forced to stand on a stool in the center of town wearing a sandwich board that reads “prostitute.” Yile, his wife’s bastard son, forever haunts Xu Sanguan’s sense of honor. And when Xu Sanguan sells his blood so he can take his family out to a proper meal, he does not invite Yile, who paces the town, famished and in tears, offering himself as a son to any man who will buy him a bowl of noodles.
In a series of heartbreaking reversals, Xu Sanguan decides to risk his own life to save Yile and comes to understand that in a society ravaged by suspicion, hostility, and poverty, blood money not only pays debts, but forgives them as well. With rare emotional intensity, grippingly raw descriptions of place and time, and clear-eyed compassion, Yu Hua gives us a stunning tapestry of human life in the grave particulars of one man’s days.
From the Back Cover:
“Chronicle of a Blood Merchant takes us straight to the heartland of China–the towns, streets, courtyards, kitchens, and bedrooms where ordinary Chinese live. They may not be great warriors or politicians, but their courageous efforts in living a life with hope and dignity make them true heroes. This book is a gem.” –Wang Ping, author of Aching for Beauty
“A major contemporary novelist, Yu Hua writes with a cold eye but a warm heart, and in a distinctive style that reveals his deep understanding of his subject–the everyday people caught in a sinister web of history and traditions. Filled with telling details and authentic characters, his novels are ingeniously structured and exude a mythical aura. Though unmistakably Chinese, they are universally resonant.” –Ha Jin, author of Waiting
“Chronicle of a Blood Merchant is a mesmerizing book, one that captures the chaos and fragility of life during modern China’s most turbulent years. Yu Hua’s characters bring to life the history, culture, traditions, and superstitions of Mao’s China within a story that is well-plotted, poignant, and dramatic. This examination of a Chinese family’s will to survive will leave readers filled with inspiration.” –Terrence Cheng, author of Sons of Heaven
“More than any other Chinese writer of his generation, Yu Hua has a profound understanding of Chinese society and the psychology of Chinese people. In Chronicle of a Blood Merchant, he uses his uniquely contemporary and deceptively dispassionate tone, his expansive heart, and succinct, humanistic brushstrokes to convey a wrenching and blackly humorous tale. Long after I closed the book, the character Xu Sanguan has remained stubbornly impressed upon my heart.” –Dai Sijie, author of Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress
“Yu Hua captures the simplicities and complexities of Chinese family life over many tumultuous decades. With great love coated in black humor, Yu Hua shows the great goodness and kindness that a father can draw upon even in the face of multiple hardships and the sometimes terrible depths to which he will go to save his family.”
—Lisa See, author of On Gold Mountain
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