Thank you for this inspiring review! Torigian's extraordinarily deep reading in Chinese sources impressed me too. I haven't gotten past page 200 yet. I have been getting sidetracked into the many issues that Joseph Torigian raises.
It struck me too how 'The Young Wanderer' could be such and impactful book but get panned by modern literary critics. Maybe the same difficulty in understanding an immensely chaotic and cruel period make it hard to have the sympathetic understanding that would make 'The Young Wanderer' more appreciated.
One can easily understand how XZX would have seen himself in this:
"At this point, he could no longer cry. He sat quietly beside the new grave, lifted his head to look around, and gazed at the freshly risen moon, lost in thought. Then, in silence, he turned his eyes to the grave. At that moment, his mood was no longer so sorrowful; he seemed instead calm and philosophical. Gently, he spoke to the one buried in the new grave:
“My poor father! My poor mother! Now you are both gone—forever leaving behind your weak and suffering son, alone and helpless.”
“You two are the fortunate ones: to die together, and to be buried side by side, spared from an eternity of loneliness. This dark world made you die with unrighted wrongs. This cruel society never gave you even the slightest happiness. When will your injustices ever be avenged? When will you ever enjoy that happiness that was denied to you in life?”
“But my father! My mother! Now you can rest in peace forever. The demons of this world can torment you no longer. Here, you lie among kindred spirits—people who perhaps suffered just like you in life—and now, they can surely be your kind and peaceful companions. Here, the dews and rains of the wild may wash away the shame and humiliation you bore while living. Here, under the open sky, you can finally bask in the gentle moonlight—you who lived your whole lives in darkness may you now quietly savor the moon’s brilliance.”
“Father! Mother! Rest in peace! From now on, you shall never again suffer the torments of this world.”
“But it is you who are free now. You have left behind your young son—what will I do? Where shall I go? Where shall I go…?”
At these words, grief overcame him once more, and tears streamed down uncontrollably. He thought: since his parents were abused to death by others, and he was just a helpless child—what further suffering would he have to endure? Thus, beyond grief, a deeper, inexpressible fear crept in.
Factions could be important (e.g., Red 4th Army Front veterans). But in case of Xi Zhongxun, the leader of the would-be faction - Liu Zhidan, Xi Zhongxun's mentor and second father, had died too early (and there was far too much infighting among the Northwestern veterans).
The fact that the Northwestern people were too busy constantly stabbing each other in the back to form a faction (though Xi Zhongxun and Liu Zhidan weren't the villains in all this), is exceptional even by the standards of thousands of years of Chinese imperial history.
Thank you for this inspiring review! Torigian's extraordinarily deep reading in Chinese sources impressed me too. I haven't gotten past page 200 yet. I have been getting sidetracked into the many issues that Joseph Torigian raises.
I ended up reading 'The Young Wanderer' and then doing a full translation on my blog: 1926: Full Translation — Jiang Guangci’s ‘The Young Wanderer’ — Xi’s Dad’s Favorite Revolutionary Book https://gaodawei.wordpress.com/2025/05/25/1926-full-translation-the-young-wanderer-xis-dads-favorite-revolutionary-book/ and some articles and books by Xi Zhongxun's contemporaries and more recent articles about Jiang Guangci that I have been able to find online.
It struck me too how 'The Young Wanderer' could be such and impactful book but get panned by modern literary critics. Maybe the same difficulty in understanding an immensely chaotic and cruel period make it hard to have the sympathetic understanding that would make 'The Young Wanderer' more appreciated.
Thank you, and thank you for taking the effort to translate Jiang's work.
One can easily understand how XZX would have seen himself in this:
"At this point, he could no longer cry. He sat quietly beside the new grave, lifted his head to look around, and gazed at the freshly risen moon, lost in thought. Then, in silence, he turned his eyes to the grave. At that moment, his mood was no longer so sorrowful; he seemed instead calm and philosophical. Gently, he spoke to the one buried in the new grave:
“My poor father! My poor mother! Now you are both gone—forever leaving behind your weak and suffering son, alone and helpless.”
“You two are the fortunate ones: to die together, and to be buried side by side, spared from an eternity of loneliness. This dark world made you die with unrighted wrongs. This cruel society never gave you even the slightest happiness. When will your injustices ever be avenged? When will you ever enjoy that happiness that was denied to you in life?”
“But my father! My mother! Now you can rest in peace forever. The demons of this world can torment you no longer. Here, you lie among kindred spirits—people who perhaps suffered just like you in life—and now, they can surely be your kind and peaceful companions. Here, the dews and rains of the wild may wash away the shame and humiliation you bore while living. Here, under the open sky, you can finally bask in the gentle moonlight—you who lived your whole lives in darkness may you now quietly savor the moon’s brilliance.”
“Father! Mother! Rest in peace! From now on, you shall never again suffer the torments of this world.”
“But it is you who are free now. You have left behind your young son—what will I do? Where shall I go? Where shall I go…?”
At these words, grief overcame him once more, and tears streamed down uncontrollably. He thought: since his parents were abused to death by others, and he was just a helpless child—what further suffering would he have to endure? Thus, beyond grief, a deeper, inexpressible fear crept in.
“Wouldn’t it be better to die too…” he thought."
literature to inspire 14 year olds not necessarily the highest grade stuff！
It is historically significant whether or not literary critic100 years later living under much different circumstances are much impressed.
agree!!
Great book and great review.
Factions could be important (e.g., Red 4th Army Front veterans). But in case of Xi Zhongxun, the leader of the would-be faction - Liu Zhidan, Xi Zhongxun's mentor and second father, had died too early (and there was far too much infighting among the Northwestern veterans).
Thank you, and a very good point.
The fact that the Northwestern people were too busy constantly stabbing each other in the back to form a faction (though Xi Zhongxun and Liu Zhidan weren't the villains in all this), is exceptional even by the standards of thousands of years of Chinese imperial history.