Lit in Translation

The Institute of Supreme Harmony (Volume One)

应物兄 · Ying wu xiong

Li Er (李洱, born 1966)

Translated by James Trapp

English editions

English soon
  • The Institute of Supreme Harmony (Volume One)

    Sinoist Books · United Kingdom · 2027 · Paperback

  • The Institute of Supreme Harmony (Volume Two)

    Sinoist Books · United Kingdom · 2027 · Paperback

The novel is built around the planned founding of an institute of Confucian studies at the fictional Jizhou University, and around Ying Wu, the scholar at its centre. Through him it connects more than seventy people, from eminent Confucians such as Cheng Jishi and Qiao Mu to scholar-officials and younger academics still searching for answers, along with businessmen, journalists, monks and townspeople, each with hopes, failings and blind spots. At its heart are three generations of university intellectuals, some of whom spent the Cultural Revolution in labour camps. Dense with quotation and learning, it draws on hundreds of classical and foreign texts.

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About the book

Form
Novel
Genres
Satire (assigned by AI)
Set in
China
First published
2018 by People's Literature Publishing House
Author's age
52 when first published
ISBN

9781838905767 (Sinoist Books, United Kingdom)

9781838906450 (Sinoist Books, United Kingdom)

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Wikidata