Spring Silkworms and Other Stories Author:Mao Tun This is a collection of 13 short stories written by the famous Chinese author Mao Tun during the period of 1927-44. Through these stories he depicts Chinese society in the thirties: calamities in the countryside and economic depression, caused by the dual pressure of imperialist aggression and feudal exploitation, as well as the misery of the pe... more »ople and the process of their awakening. He also describes the upheavals experienced by people of various classes and strata during the period of the Japanese invasion.
He portrays various characters, including those workers who heroically resisted the enemy; students who took part in movements to save the nation; weak-kneed, vacillating petty-bourgeois intellectuals; wealthy capitalists who hated the people and supported the reactionary policies of the Kuomintang government; stock exchange speculators, women employees and young, homeless waifs in the cities.
Dealing with a wide range of subjects, this book is a mirror of old China after the failure of the First Revolutionary Civil War, when it was under reactionary Kuomintang rule. These stories are outstanding for their progressive outlook and artistry.« less