Songs from the Forest

Since ancient times, the residents of Jiwo have lived in harmony with nature. A number even procreated with wild animals, giving rise to offspring that were the descendants of wolves, wild boars and sea hogs. Then the tyrannical Tang Laotuo and his son Tang Tong shatter the peace by plundering the earth of its minerals and stripping the trees from the forests. Into this fractured environment emerges a beautiful young woman, Mei Di, daughter of a hedgehog spirit. Liao Mai, an idealistic young man, wins her affections but their plans to create a utopian future in the countryside continue to be imperiled by a jealous Tang Tong and the foul smoke issuing from his expanding industrial empire.

There’s no progress without change, but not all change is progress.

Since ancient times, Jiwo village and its forests have been a sanctuary. Man, beast and those somewhere in between live in harmony, all part of a timeless chorus, until one day a discordant note strikes with the emergence of the tyrant Tang Laotuo and his son Tang Tong, stripping the land bare to feed their expanding industrial empire.

Among the natives in the spreading dusty haze is the beautiful hedgehog spirit Mei Di, and her headstrong husband Liao Mai. Their home is a rural utopia threatened by the foul noise and smoke belching from the Tang’s factories.

As the bulldozers rumble ever closer, the change not only strains the lovers’ relationship but also puts Jiwo’s age-old balance in jeopardy. A reckoning will surely come one day, and as silence falls, will anyone still remember the old songs?

About the Author

Zhang Wei is a contemporary writer and vice chairman of the China Writers Association, born in Qixia City, Shandong Province. His first work was published in 1975.

More than fifty volumes of Zhang Wei’s collected works have been published. His writing has been translated into dozens of languages, including English, Japanese, French, and German. He has written twenty-one novels, including Ancient Ship, You Are on the Plateau and The Sole Pharmacist. He has won many national literary prizes, including the Mao Dun Literature Award.