The World of a Tiny Insect: A Memoir of the Taiping Rebellion

The World of a Tiny Insect: A Memoir of the Taiping Rebellion and Its Aftermath

"From the cry of a tiny insect, one can hear the sound of a vast world. . . ."

So begins Zhang Dayeâ€™s preface to The World of a Tiny Insect, his haunting memoir of war and its aftermath. In 1861, when Chinaâ€™s devastating Taiping rebellion began, Zhang was seven years old. The Taiping rebel army occupied Shaoxing, his hometown, and for the next two years, he hid from Taiping soldiers, local bandits, and imperial troops and witnessed gruesome scenes of violence and death. He lost friends and family and nearly died himself from starvation, illness, and encounters with soldiers on a rampage.

Written thirty years later, The World of a Tiny Insect gives voice to this history. A rare premodern Chinese literary work depicting a childâ€™s perspective, Zhangâ€™s sophisticated text captures the macabre images, paranoia, and emotional excess that defined his wartime experience and echoed through his adult life. The structure, content, and imagery of The World of a Tiny Insect offer a carefully constructed, fragmented narrative that skips in time and probes the relationships between trauma and memory, revealing both history and its psychic impact. Xiaofei Tianâ€™s annotated translation includes an introduction that situates The World of a Tiny Insect in Chinese history and literature and explores the relevance of the book to the workings of traumatic memory.
Country USA
Brand University of Washington Press
Manufacturer University of Washington Press
Binding Paperback
ItemPartNumber 9780295993188
UnitCount 1
EANs 9780295993188
ReleaseDate 0000-00-00

Country	USA
Brand	University of Washington Press
Manufacturer	University of Washington Press
Binding	Paperback
ItemPartNumber	9780295993188
UnitCount	1
EANs	9780295993188
ReleaseDate	0000-00-00

The World of a Tiny Insect: A Memoir of the Taiping Rebellion and Its Aftermath

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