Novel on life and death of a funeral singer reveals history

The deathbed of a rural funeral singer serves as the stage of Jia Pingwa's newest novel.

The protagonist of Lao Sheng - the title has multiple meanings in Chinese, including the elderly male role in Peking Opera, immortality and cliche - recalls the lives of about 100 characters, whose stories come to life as he remembers his travels among villages to sing in honor of the dead.

Their stories create a mosaic of how the past century of revolution, reform and social transformation has shaped a rural stretch of Shaanxi province's Qingling mountain range.