Rainbow

Originally published in 1929 as Hong, this novel is now available in English for the first time in this translation. Mao Dun, the pen name of Shen Dehong, is one of the most influential Chinese writers of the twentieth century. The story follows Mei, a young woman whose path leads her out of the rigid structure of a traditional household. Shaped by the spirit of the May Fourth Movement, she pursues modern ideas about individual autonomy, equality between the sexes, and civic duty.

Mei's journey carries her from the conservative interior provinces down the Yangtze River to Shanghai, a city at the centre of China's political upheaval. Along the way, the book shows how the search for personal liberty can sit uneasily beside the wider goal of making the nation strong.

Mao Dun writes as someone who lived through the events he describes, which gives the novel a sense of immediacy. It is a vivid portrait of its own era and a look at tensions that still resonate in China today.