Bright Clouds

Tales From the Front #2

by Hao Ran, Tung Chen-Sheg (Illustrator)

"Bright Clouds" is a collection of eight short stories by the author Hao Ran, one of the many new writers who emerged after the founding of the People’s Republic of China. Most of the stories are set in the northern Chinese countryside and depict the everyday life of ordinary peasants and cadres shedding the burdens of old feudal ways of thinking, working and relating to others and society. These stories describe a changing China, its contradictions forging new kinds of people, working together to build a new world.

Genres: China, Fiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

Hao Ran (Chinese: 浩然) was the pen name of Liang Jinguang (梁金广), a modern Chinese writer. He was the only author who published novels during the Cultural Revolution era. His work Sunny Days was praised by Jiang Qing. In 1977, he joined the Revolutionary Committee of Beijing. His autobiography was published in 2000.

Reviews

[Arya · Rating 4 out of 5]

very inspiring ! a sheperds apprientence was very touching
a few of the stories were not as advanced as they should have been regarding the women characters

[Leo46 · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing collection of short stories during the years of successful establishments of land reform, mutual aid teams, people's communes, or in short--socialist construction from the late 50s up to the early GPCR years. All stories set in the countryside, it shows the genuinely revolutionary nature of the people excited for a new direction in their nation that was led by people's needs first. They range from having clear models of revolutionary, socialist consciousness in humble but flawed individuals to refreshing stories of everyday life--only very implicitly affected by the circumstances of new socialism. My favorites were "Visit on a Snowy Night" and "Honeymoon," with "Jade Spring" as an honorable mention. All convey extremely beautiful imagery (especially in the early stories and "Snow Night"), and as a Chinese speaker, it's cool to see the small subtleties of Chinese phrases, idioms, or general diction translated into English because no English novel would ever have phrases like "villagers said he had a treasure box for a brain" (19). "Honeymoon" and "Jade Spring" are among many stories that center around or have romance as a big part of the plot, which revitalizingly have great distinguishing characteristics from the hypersexualization of women in the West. Also, certain acknowledgments of sexism in Chinese traditions sewn into the narratives of the stories were executed well and surprisingly progressive for the time. These favorite stories of mine were also just genuinely cute and sweet stories in their own right. Highly recommend jumping into this beautiful world Hao Ran builds to any and all.

[Seren B · Rating 5 out of 5]

wonderful

[River Hobden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful, Hopeful, Engersing, Inspiring, Relieving

[Julius · Rating 4 out of 5]

Malinaw yung imahe, mas nabibigyan tayo ng ideya kung anong itsura ng socialist construction sa pang-araw araw na buhay ng ordinaryong mamamayan.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful little book of charming country stories with a bit of good will propaganda thrown in. I don't know much about 1950's rural China but hard to believe it was this idyllic. Though for short stories the author perfectly captured country charm and simplicity.