Review
There is so much to glean from Jiang Rong's
sprawling semi-autobiographical novel that it's
tempting to suggest a second read, if not the whole
book, at least parts of it. Ostensibly it is about a
young Beijing student, Chen Zhen, who is sent to
China's Inner Mongolia by the People's Revolution in
the 1960s to live among the nomads and herd sheep.
He lives with a handful of other students in a
typical Mongol yurt (a collapsible circular tent
made of animal skins), tends sheep, makes friends
with a couple of his peers among the Mongols and
cultivates a mentor-type connection with a Mongol
elder named Bilgee. Chen even adopts a wolf cub,
Little Cub, to raise as his own, hoping the
proximity will help him understand the complicated
relationship between man...
Beyond the Book
Wolves as Totems
Although many in the USA will
associate totems - objects, animals or
plants revered as a symbol of a
tribe and often used in rituals
- with
Native Americans, totems are
found in many cultures
throughout the world, tracing
far back into prehistory. Google
the word and you'll find
websites such as
animaltotem.com, devoted to
helping one find ones
personal animal or insect totem.
As a Han Chinese with a
background in the teachings of
Confucius, Chen Zhen has...
