Preface

Since the 1980s, China has experienced tremendous changes in all aspects. These changes deeply and directly influence Chinese people's material life and mental life. Literary works, especially short stories, first capture and represent these changes with their keen tentacles. The works selected in this book, both in content and in language, not only highlight new literary themes and new expressions, but also reflect the inevitable changes brought about by modernization, commercialization and urbanization in Chinese society.

This advanced reading selection presents nine contemporary Chinese short stories published since the 1980s. In order to combine Chinese language teaching with modern Chinese literary teaching, I have chosen some good examples that are not only rich of linguistic and literary merits, but also represent different contemporary Chinese social issues. I hope that readers will improve their language level, enrich the knowledge of Chinese literature, and at the same time, deepen their understanding of today's Chinese society.

The book focuses on the concerns of human beings and covers different issues of contemporary Chinese society, such as urban-rural relations in urbanization ("City Living, Country Living" and "Forest of Birds"), the impact of commercialization on traditional family relationships ("Explosion in the Sky", "Breastfeeding Woman", and "Clear Soup of Greens"), the social problems of contemporary Chinese youths ("If It Snowed" and "The Selection of Primary School Student Huang Bohao's Compositions"), cross-cultural communication and conflicts in globalization ("The Stubborn Porridge") and reflection on Chin'a modern history ("The Queen of Hearts"). These stories by well-known writers reflect the literary characteristics and achievements of contemporary Chinese literature since the 1980s. I hope that this book will introduce readers to some of the literary masterpieces in modern China, more importantly, to provide readers with a window through which to learn more about today's Chinese society and culture.

There are totally nine lessons in this book. Every lesson includes pre-lesson discussion, story itself, vocabulary, exercises and a brief introduction to the author. Because advanced Chinese language courses emphasize the expansion of vocabulary and oral expression, the book has provided Chinese interpretation for the vocabulary. Discussion questions are based on the stories itself and related topics that will help students learn to express their thoughts on the stories in Chinese. Some questions, especially in the second part of the discussion questions, can also be used as discussion topics for seminar, research and written work, to stimulate students' interest in Chinese literature and culture.

This book is suitable for elective courses for one semester to use. The suggested class hours for each lesson are 4, a total of 36 hours. For the convenience of teaching and learning, I have abridged some long stories and have occasionally made slight changes in wording, without affecting the plot and overall atmosphere of the stories. Abridgements have been identified in the text.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the original authors for their supports and encouragements, and to my university Zhejiang Normal University (ZJNU) for its financial support. I would also like to thank my graduate student Wen Yi and my colleagues in Confucius Institute at Eduardo Mondlane University (CI-UEM) for their preliminary work. My colleagues of Cultural Communication Team at the College of International Education of ZJNU have offered valuable suggestions. This book refers to Advanced Reader of Contemporary Chinese Short Stories edited by Ying Wang and Carrie E. Reed. Many thanks are also due to them all.

Whatever mistakes remain in the book are solely the responsibility of the compiler.

Jianling Guo
December 2017
Confucius Institute at Eduardo Mondlane University (CI-UEM)
Maputo City, Mozambique