Northward

• Xu Zechen is the pride of post-70s writers; he found a way to comprehend the "river of life" that nurtured him, breathing new life into the Grand Canal. "Northward" is a solid, rigorous work rich in artistic imagination, demonstrating how a new generation of writers re-examines history and civilization.

• In "Northward", Xu Zechen portrays an "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" of the Grand Canal with outstanding narrative craft. Amidst over a century of vicissitudes, the cities, communities, joys, sorrows, and dreams along both banks unfold one after another, ultimately converging into the profound and lofty depths of the Chinese spirit. The traditional qualities of the Chinese people and modern consciousness are re-explored and displayed within a 21st-century global perspective around this vital symbol of national life.

• The author narrates the century-long secret history among several families along the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, exploring the canal's profound impact on China's political, economic, geographic, and cultural transformations and popular sentiment, delineating a spiritual map of the Grand Canal over the past century.

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