China News Service, Beijing, September 29 (Reporter Gao Kai) The "Taste of the South of the Yangtze River, Feelings of the World - Reading Sharing Session on Wang Yao's novel "Taohuawu"" hosted by Writers Publishing House was recently held here.
Chen Tao, president and editor-in-chief of Writers Publishing House, Li Er, professor of the Literary Institute of Peking University and winner of the 10th Mao Dun Literature Award, Liu Tao, deputy director of the Creative Research Department of the Chinese Writers Association, and other guests, together with Wang Yao, chair professor of Suzhou University, winner of the Lu Xun Literature Award and author of "Taohuawu", launched an exchange and discussion on literature, history and feelings about home and country around "Taohuawu".
Event site. Photo provided by the organizer
As a representative of the publisher, Chen Tao believes that "Taohuawu" is a masterpiece that deeply explores the spiritual history of intellectuals. Mr. Wang Yao used the geographical coordinates of Taohuawu, Suzhou, and the fate of three generations of the Fang family to present the spiritual growth and responsibility of Chinese intellectuals during the Anti-Japanese War. He reviewed the publishing process of "Taohuawu". He mentioned that he reviewed the manuscript word for word while working at People's Literature Magazine, and then read it in depth again at Writers Publishing House, completing a "perfect closed loop" from magazine to publishing house. Chen Tao pointed out that "Taohuawu" has won many awards since its publication and has been selected into various good book lists. It recently won the Yu Dafu Novel Award. Its excellence is self-evident.
Talking about why he chose Taohuawu, Suzhou as the background of the story, Wang Yao said that it was closely related to his understanding of the history and culture of Suzhou city. Suzhou is located between tradition and modernity, and Taohuawu Street is not only close to the Changmen mentioned in the opening chapter of "A Dream of Red Mansions", but is also the site of Tang Bohu's Peach Blossom Spring, home to China's earliest Kunqu Opera Institute and Taowu Middle School where Qian Zhongshu once studied. More importantly, as an important cultural symbol in China, "peach blossom" symbolizes the living space of literati and intellectuals. After the fall of Suzhou in 1937, Taohuawu changed from a "Peach Blossom Land" to an "occupied area". This huge time and space transformation constitutes the core tension of the novel. Wang Yao aims to use this geographical space to write about the feelings of family and country, the spirit of scholarly business, and the love between his children in the 1930s among Chinese intellectuals, and also unfold the daily life of Jiangnan.
The novel "Taohuawu". Photo provided by the organizer
Li Er believes that the most touching thing about "Taohuawu" is that it embodies the "gentleman spirit" repeatedly emphasized in Chinese culture. He quoted Confucius' "The benevolent do not worry, the wise do not be confused, and the brave do not fear" to summarize the characteristics of the main characters of the three generations in the book, and pointed out that it is extremely difficult to write a novel about a gentleman, but Wang Yao's handling of it is touching.
Li Er examined "Taohuawu" in the context of modern and contemporary Chinese literary history and believed that it formed a strong dialogue with Qian Zhongshu's "The Besieged City". If "Fortress Besieged" is a deconstruction and cynicism of the "suspended" state of intellectuals, then "Taohuawu" is a construction and silent praise of the "rooted" spirit of intellectuals. In addition, Li Er emphasized that "Taohuawu" solves the crucial "growth" proposition in modern and contemporary Chinese literature. The growth trajectory of the protagonist Fang Houle echoes the fate of Jia Baoyu in Cao Xueqin's novel, showing how individuals integrate into the tide of the times and complete self-shaping during the long period of time from the collapse of the empire to the liberation of the nation. This connection between classical spirit and modern consciousness makes the book transcend specific texts and have broader literary historical significance.
At the end of the sharing session, Wang Yao quoted a sentence from the novel as a gift to all readers: "Wherever you imagine there are peach blossoms, there will be peach blossoms." This sentence is not only a sublimation of the artistic conception of the novel, but also an expectation for the readers' spiritual world.
It is reported that since its publication, "Taohuawu" has been selected into the Chinese Novel Society's 2025 Chinese Good Novels, the China Publishing Media Business Daily's Top Ten Best Books in 2025, the 9th Annual Gold List of Novels, the 2025 Novels in the Harvest Literature List, and the Annual Writers in the Spring Breeze Reading List. It has won important awards such as the 2025 People's Literature Award for Novel and the 9th Yu Dafu Novel Award. (over)
