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← Back to all issuesGranta 169: China
Autumn 2024
At a time when China has become a unifying spectre of menace for Western governments, this issue of Granta seeks to bring the country’s literary culture into focus.
Featuring fiction by Yu Hua, Zou Jingzhi, Yan Lianke, Jianan Qian, Shuang Xuetao, Mo Yan, Zhang Yueran, Ban Yu, Yang Zhihan and Wang Zhanhei.
Essays by Xiao Hai and Han Zhang, as well as a conversation between Wu Qi and Granta.
Photography from Feng Li, Haohui Liu and collaborators Li Jie and Zhang Jungang.
And poetry from Huang Fan, Lan Lan, Hu Xudong and Zheng Xiaoqiong.
From this Issue
Essays & Memoir|Granta 169
Essays & Memoir|Granta 169
China Time
Thomas Meaney
‘At a time when China has become a unifying specter of menace for Western governments, this issue of Granta brings the country’s literary culture into focus.’
The editor introduces the issue.
Fiction|Granta 169
Fiction|Granta 169
Speedwell
Zhang Yueran
‘Fiction is a kind of spell, I said, and analysing a story is an exorcism. It loses all its mystery.’
Fiction by Zhang Yueran, translated by Jeremy Tiang.
Fiction|Granta 169
Fiction|Granta 169
Hunter
Shuang Xuetao
‘Lu Dong is a fifth-rate actor – that’s by his own ranking system.’
Fiction by Shuang Xuetao, translated by Jeremy Tiang.
Art & Photography|Granta 169
Art & Photography|Granta 169
White Night
Feng Li
‘For more than twenty years, photographer Feng Li has been documenting the people and backdrops of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, and one of the fastest growing cities on earth.’
Photography by Feng Li, introduced by Granta.
Fiction|Granta 169
Fiction|Granta 169
The Excitements of Spring
Zou Jingzhi
‘As a young man, I wanted to learn how to love, but in the end, I did nothing. I wanted to torture myself, but didn’t know where to begin.’
Fiction by Zou Jingzhi, translated by Jeremy Tiang.
Essays & Memoir|Granta 169
Essays & Memoir|Granta 169
Picun
Han Zhang
‘The stories being written by Picun writers and their peers show the effort and the ingenuity required to survive as migrant workers, builders of the economic miracle.’
Han Zhang on the New Workers’ Literature Group of Picun.
Fiction|Granta 169
Fiction|Granta 169
The Piranhas
Jianan Qian
‘In the end, the real world always finds a way to live up to rumor.’
Fiction by Jianan Qian, translated by Jianan Qian and Alyssa Asquith.
Fiction|Granta 169
Fiction|Granta 169
Take Me Out to the Ball Game
Ban Yu
‘It was a special time in Shenyang’s history – everyone was enthusiastic about football, and every company had a football fan club.’
Fiction by Ban Yu, translated by Tony Hao.
Essays & Memoir|Granta 169
Essays & Memoir|Granta 169
Adrift in the South
Xiao Hai
‘Finally! I thought. Now I get to work in a big factory. I was fifteen and a half years old. I was a child laborer.’
Xiao Hai on coming of age in the factories of Shenzhen, translated by Tony Hao.
Art & Photography|Granta 169
Art & Photography|Granta 169
Shot in the 1960s, Printed Yesterday
Haohui Liu
‘It is rare to see photos of Daqing from the 1960s that are not part of the official feting of the oil boom.’
Photography by Haoihui Liu, introduced by Granta.
Fiction|Granta 169
Fiction|Granta 169
Hai Shan Swimming Pool
Yang Zhihan
‘As soon as I turned the corner, I saw her. She was swimming across the blue sea, the only person in the entire swimming pool.’
Fiction by Yang Zhihan, translated by Helen Wang.
Fiction|Granta 169
Fiction|Granta 169
Tomorrow I’ll Get Past It
Yu Hua
‘Every time I tried to write more, it turned out to be a fruitless endeavor – I felt like I was trapped in a sealed room with no windows.’
Fiction by Yu Hua, translated by Michael Berry.
Poetry|Granta 169
Poetry|Granta 169
New Year’s By the Sea, Spinning Top and Cup
Huang Fan
‘A cup is an open mouth / You kiss each day’
Three poems by Huang Fan, translated by Margaret Ross.
Fiction|Granta 169
Fiction|Granta 169
Goodbye, Bridge of the East
Wang Zhanhei
‘To make sure she was looking her best in the photos, Wu Jiayu avoided eating during our dates, and she didn’t order anything for me when we were done.’
A short story by Wang Zhanhei, translated by Dave Haysom.
Poetry|Granta 169
Poetry|Granta 169
For Pessoa and My Cows Arrive
Lan Lan
‘I read your love poem, / a failure.’
Two poems by Lan Lan, translated by Diana Shi and George O’Connell.
Poetry|Granta 169
Poetry|Granta 169
Birds
Zheng Xiaoqiong
‘in the Huangma Mountains, everything rots readily’
A poem by Zheng Xiaoqiong, translated by Eleanor Goodman.
In Conversation|Granta 169
In Conversation|Granta 169
The Rules of the Game
Wu Qi
‘It seemed perfectly normal for middle-class writers to tell the stories of the underclass. But the presumed creator of literature has been changing.’
Granta interviews Wu Qi.
Poetry|Granta 169
Poetry|Granta 169
Song of the Bicycle and the Fence and Greenland
Hu Xudong
‘How reliable did the gods have to be / to make his parents meet on an island / the size of a continent?’
Two poems by Hu Xudong, translated by Margaret Ross.
Fiction|Granta 169
Fiction|Granta 169
The Leftie Sickle
Mo Yan
‘When they were working, Old Han held the tongs, Young Han swung the sledgehammer, and Old Third worked the bellows to raise the heat.’
A short story by Mo Yan, translated by Nicky Harman.
Fiction|Granta 169
Fiction|Granta 169
Black Pig Hair, White Pig Hair
Yan Lianke
‘Are you here to accept punishment on the mayor’s behalf ? This is a great opportunity. People burn incense for a chance like this.’
A short story by Yan Lianke, translated by Carlos Rojas.
