BLUE SEAS, MULBERRY FIELDS

About the Book

Born in the walled family enclave or siheyuan built by his father, Weijie braved through, and later watched from afar in America, the existential evanescence of life in the city of his birth. All that is encapsulated in the ancient saying: "BLUE SEAS, MULBERRY FIELDS" (沧海桑田）。 He had witnessed the successive ends to the epochal colors of the place: the brilliant yellow of the imperial age; the imposing red wall-boards of the revolutionary era; and the stern grey of the outer walls of the siheyuans that dominated the landscape throughout the city. Weijie's existence thus was part and parcel of this tale of three cities in one: Peking-Peiping-Beijing.

About the Author

H. Yuan Tien was born in Peking (now Beijing), China on June 20, 1926. He came to the U.S. in 1947 following the end of WWII. He taught at two Big Ten universities. Now Emeritus Professor, The Ohio State University, he has since his academic retirement in 1991 devoted himself full time to literary endeavors. His first short story, written in Chinese, appeared in print in 1995 in China, and was followed by his first full-length novel in 2000: No. 102 Jiwang Lane. His collection of short stories in English, You Just Never Know: Tales from Contemporary China, was published here in America in 2012, while his work of autobio-fiction, Dongqu Xilai (Going East, Returning West) was released in Beijing in October 2013.