Details
The 21st-Century Chinese Literature series offers an introduction to contemporary Chinese literature for English readers all over the world. Foreign Languages Press published the first installment of the series (eight books) in 2008, the second installment (nine books) in 2014, and the third installment in 2020. For readers around the world who are used to learning about China through newspapers, TV and the Internet, the 21st-Century Chinese Literature series provides an additional way to learn about China-through the eyes of Chinese people themselves. The stories in this series capture the heartfelt emotions of writers living in an ancient nation going through rapid changes. In telling stories about themselves and people around them, the writers present to the world a true, complex and dynamic representation of China.
Overseen by the China Writers Association, Peoples Literature Magazine is the People's Republic of China's first national literary magazine. For more than seventy years it has contributed greatly to the promotion and development of literature in China, and has been an essential journal of modern Chinese literature for foreign Sinological institutions and libraries alike.
Table of Contents
Ding Jia & Chen Yan
The Eye of Heaven
Chen Guodong & YVang Jing
Ice and Fire of the South China Sea
Ding Xiaoping
An Ironman with a Red Heart
Zhao Yan
The Starry Skies Are Not Far Away
Ren Linju
Unwavering Commitment
Sample Pages Preview
Therefore, if he didn't review the drawings or approved work tasks himself, he felt ill at ease.
Right after construction kicked off, the team needed to build a water cellar. The contractor brought over a design drawing, which was rejected after Nan Rendong quickly marked out a few errors.
The contractor was surprised, asking, "How come you're in the field of astronomy but know so much about civil engineering?"
Everyone had thought that Nan Rendong, an astronomer, would at most have a little knowledge of machinery and engineering. They couldn't have imagined that he would be so knowledgeable in these fields too.
Later, they learned that Nan Rendong had even spent a month studying geotechnical engineering by himself, cracking hard nuts one by one. In order to be able to talk with the experts for the systems, he studied all the time and therefore knew something about everything. He couldn't tolerate any imperfections; he made absolutely sure of every technical detail, never missing the slightest flaw. He even tightened screws on the steel frame, chipped away at steel with a flat chisel, drilled holes for bolts on the high beams...
Even at the age of 70, he often donned work clothes and a helmet and headed out to the construction site to check all the details of work. With a serious look and a hoarse voice, he made suggestions and pointed out problems to the contractor.
Xing Chenghui, of the 54th Research Institute of China Electronics Technology Group Corporation, ran into Nan Rendong on a sultry summer day.
At noon that day, Nan Rendong was having lunch. Hearing that there was an error in the ground riveting work, he put down his chopsticks and hurried to the construction site. He watched over the work personally lest technicians get the measurement wrong.
When he was alone, he often climbed to the top of the high tower, where he watched the construction site in quiet.
Once, a worker went to the construction site to inspect work and saw Nan Rendong looking up at the sky leaning against the stainless-steel guardrail.
"Mr. Nan, what are you thinking about?"
At the point, a courage walked up from behind Rendong and greeted him, "Boss, when FAST is complete and the results come out, I suppose the state will give you a great honor and you will get a promotion?"
Nan Rendong turned his head and looked sullen.
"You know nothing!" He waved his hand hard and walked away
Seeing that he was unhappy, the worker said, "Mr. Nan, do you want me to go with you for a walk around here?"
As they walked around, Nan Rendong shared his thoughts with the worker: "Do you know what I was thinking about just now? I was thinking that if this telescope fails to produce results, I betray the trust of the state, which has invested so much money; I betray the trust of my comrades who have been working with me for decades; I betray the trust of the Guizhou government, which has been so supportive; and I betray the trust of the villagers! Ifl fail to make FAST a success, I must throw myself off this cliff!"