Hello!
Here’s the new novel I am translating right now. I have read a novel which has the same the same plot and the things that happened in China back in the 1960s really pique my interest. For this novel, I liked how the author focused more on the early 1960s.
The story started in the year 1960, during the Great Famine of China era (1959-1961), where they still have the commune system, so we will encounter these three terms in this novel: commune, brigade or production brigade, and production team. The people’s commune was the highest of three administrative levels in rural areas of the People’s Republic of China during the period from 1958 to 1983, until they were replaced by townships. Communes, the largest collective units, were divided in turn into production brigades and production teams.
The brigades, which are typically organized around natural villages, carry out smaller-scale capital construction projects and provide smaller-scale educational and health facilities; elementary schools and clinics, for example, are normally operated at the brigade level.
For example, in the Malienhua Brigade of the Sino-Japanese Friendship People’s Commune near Beijing, there are 180 households divided into 3 production teams (the average brigade in China has 6.7 teams and the average commune 100). Of the brigade’s 820-member labor force, over 80 works in the brigade-level enterprises, which are engaged in polishing magnifying glasses, making tiles for house construction, operating a fish pond, making glass display cases and making paper bags for herbal medicine. The brigade receives 80 percent of its income from its enterprises, 20 percent from its member teams.
Here’s the outline: Province > Prefecture > County > Commune > Brigade > Team > Family/Household
**I hope that this could help you visualize the plot more. ^^
Here’s the first five chapters of the novel:
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Enjoy reading! ^^