Books offer a glimpse of China in 2014

From porcelain to pickles, English language offerings from publishers in China and the West are set to give readers a broader perspective on the Middle Kingdom

At a meeting of writers, Sinologists and publishing professionals in Beijing in December, a wry joke circulated. In the past, the experts said to each other, only three types of Chinese books found their way into Western readers' libraries: traditional culture, controversy and anything about beauty and sex.

With its booming economy, China has been attracting increased global interest, and people from all around the world are seeking to understand more about China through its literature.

International publishers are beginning to seek out books that reflect contemporary China and give some insight into the world of young Chinese. They are also tracking down best-sellers in the Chinese market as a reference to see what might translate well to the West.

Here is a quick look at some of the publishing highlights that are set to appear on the bookshelves of the English-speaking world over the coming year.

Literature

The year 2014 will be a busy year for important Chinese literary masters.

Penguin China/Australia has Mo Yan, Mai Jia, Wang Anyi and Bi Feiyu on its publishing schedule. The English version of 2012 Nobel Literature Prize winner Mo Yan's latest novel Frog, about the country's family planning policy, will be published in the second half of the year. Bi's Massage and Wang's Scent of Heaven will also be published in English.

In February, detective writer Mai Jia will see his book Decoded published in English, the first of his books to be translated into that language. His work has already been translated into Spanish. The novel is suspenseful storytelling centered around math and decoding.

Pantheon, Bertelsmann's publishing arm, is to translate Brothers author Yu Hua's Boy in the Twilight: Stories of the Hidden China. The book is "a collection of 13 audacious and powerful stories that reveal the sorrows, joys, shifts and constants of everyday life inside this rapidly changing country".

Also from Bertelsmann, Random House is to present a new novel by Lisa See, author of Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, titled China Dolls. Set in the "Chop Suey Circuit" of San Francisco right before World War II, the novel tells the story of three showgirls, two from Chinese families.

English Writings of Hu Shih, published by Springer, brings together Hu's English essays, speeches and academic papers, as well as book reviews, all written between 1919 and 1962. A reformer of modern Chinese language, Hu served as the Republic of China's ambassador to the United States from 1938 to 1942 and later as chancellor of Peking University.

Culture/Art

On the popular theme of food culture, Penguin is to launch an English-language book about baijiu, Chinese liquor, set for release in March, while Ten Speed Press will present Asian Pickles by Karen Solomon with 75 recipes for the "sweet, sour, salty, cured and fermented preserves from Korea, Japan, China, India and beyond".

London-based CYP International is known for its plush coffee-table books on art and design. In 2014, it will publish Chinese Porcelain and Fashion in China. With full-sized pictures, Chinese Porcelain gives an overview of porcelain production, its history and technology, and offers detailed information about color, glazes and decoration. Fashion in China focuses on 30 emerging Chinese designers and design brands at the cutting edge of fashion.

Society/Economy

For anyone keen on keeping abreast of China's economy and society, Foreign Languages Press has prepared a series of books, from descriptive to analytical, to give readers an insight into this complex nation.

The publishing house will put forward translated documents (in English, French, Spanish, German, Japanese and Arabic) assembled from the Third Plenary Session of 18th Central Committee of Communist Party of China last year, a meeting that decided on policies which will shape the nation.

Following the collection of documents, there will be volumes of in-depth analysis from experts in related fields, interpreting how the new reforms will change the country.

Chinese Dream, the phrase put forward by President Xi Jinping last year, is a concept that has slowly caught on, and is changing the mindset of many Chinese. FLP has put together six books to illustrate the dream including one focused on migrant workers and urbanization, one on the "outgoing" enterprises and one on the country's go-west campaign.

Understanding China will give readers an overview of China's politics and economy. One volume will explore the governing principles of the Communist Party of China, deciphering the Party's guiding theories and its management experience. Another volume will explain the country's economic transformation.

Zhu Guanglei, a celebrated researcher in political science at Nankai University, will release a book looking at "how the Chinese government operates".

Springer continues to discover Chinese academic achievements that are worthy of translation to English. The publishing company has two interesting new titles set for release in 2014.

One is Data You Need to Know About China: Research Report of China Household Finance Survey 2012. Based on the first and only nationally representative survey on household finance in China conducted in 2011, covering 29,000 individuals and 8,438 households, the book offers "high-quality and well-analyzed data for academic research and policymaking".

Another is Human Rights Protection System in China, which the author Sun Pinghua hopes will allow readers to gain a better view of the theory and practice of human rights protection in the Chinese context.

History/Education

The New Penguin Specials series is set to be released on the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I. It explores the impact of the war on China and the rest of Asia. The series includes a book about the Siege of Tsingtao, and another about the army corps of Chinese laborers and the rush among foreigners in Shanghai to join the army.

From the Bertelsmann group, Charlesbridge will release At Home in Her Tomb: Lady Dai and the Ancient Chinese Treasures of Mawangdui, written by Christine Liu-Perkins and illustrated by Sarah S. Brannen. The book features details of the best-preserved mummy in the world, Lady Dai, and the treasures found in her tomb, offering invaluable clues to daily life in ancient China.

Following heated discussion on the concept of "Tiger Moms", Quanyu Huang unveils the "secrets of the extraordinary success of Asian-American kids" in The Hybrid Tiger, to be published by Prometheus Books. Huang, a Chinese-American education expert, offers unique insights into "the weaknesses and strengths of American education", drawing on his own immigration experiences in the 1980s, and as a parent to a son raised in the US.

Contact the writers through meijia@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily European Weekly 01/10/2014 page26)