Tales of Hulan River

novel by Xiao Hong

Also known as: “Hulanhe zhuan”

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July 16, 2026

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Tales of Hulan River is a semiautobiographical novel by Chinese writer Xiao Hong, completed in 1942. Set in northeastern China during the 1930s, the novel is known for its unique "lyric-style fiction," blending prose and verse, and existing between fiction and nonfiction.1

Xiao Hong wrote the novel in Hong Kong shortly before her death. The work offers a depiction of the lives and struggles of ordinary people in the Hulan region. It is considered her best-known work and showcases her distinctive literary style. The novel's setting in Hulan county, Heilongjiang province, grounds its narrative in a specific locale.1

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Xiao Hong
…finished writing Hulanhe zhuan (1942; Tales of Hulan River). With this semiautobiographical novel, her best-known work, she developed a new kind of “lyric-style fiction” that lies between fiction and nonfiction, prose and verse. She died of respiratory problems shortly after Hong Kong fell to the Japanese.
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…finished writing Hulanhe zhuan (1942; Tales of Hulan River). With this semiautobiographical novel, her best-known work, she developed a new kind of “lyric-style fiction” that lies between fiction and nonfiction, prose and verse. She died of respiratory problems shortly after Hong Kong fell to the Japanese.
Read More