Jiang Rongs Schriften tauchen tief in die Verbindung zwischen Mensch und Natur ein, insbesondere in die ungezähmte Wildnis und ihre Tierwelt. Seine Erzählungen erforschen oft die Spannung zwischen Zivilisation und Wildnis und untersuchen, wie die natürliche Umwelt die menschliche Psyche und gesellschaftliche Strukturen prägt. Durch lebendige Bilder und eindringliche Sprache entführt er die Leser in eine Welt, in der Instinkt und Überleben an erster Stelle stehen. Seine Werke sind eine Meditation über das Wesen des Lebens und unseren Platz im Ökosystem.
Der Student Chen Zhan wird während der Kulturrevolution in den 60er-Jahren in die Innere Mongolei geschickt, um das Leben der Viehzüchter kennenzulernen. Dort macht er Bekanntschaft mit den Wölfen, deren Klugheit und Mut die Mongolen immer fasziniert haben – und bald entsteht eine tiefe Verbindung zu einem Wolfsjungen. Doch Unheil kündigt sich an, als die Chinesen das wirtschaftliche Potenzial der Steppe wittern ...
Gekürzte Lesung
<b>An epic Chinese tale in the vein of <i>The Last Emperor</i>, Wolf Totem depicts the dying culture of the Mongols-the ancestors of the Mongol hordes who at one time terrorized the world-and the parallel extinction of the animal they believe to be sacred: the fierce and otherworldly Mongolian wolf</b> Published under a pen name, <i>Wolf Totem</i> was a phenomenon in China, breaking all sales records there and earning the distinction of being the second most read book after Mao's little red book. There has been much international excitement too-to date, rights have been sold in thirteen countries. Wolf Totem is set in 1960s China-the time of the Great Leap Forward, on the eve of the Cultural Revolution. Searching for spirituality, Beijing intellectual Chen Zhen travels to the pristine grasslands of Inner Mongolia to live among the nomadic Mongols-a proud, brave, and ancient race of people who coexist in perfect harmony with their unspeakably beautiful but cruel natural surroundings. Their philosophy of maintaining a balance with nature is the ground stone of their religion, a kind of cult of the wolf. The fierce wolves that haunt the steppes of the unforgiving grassland searching for food are locked with the nomads in a profoundly spiritual battle for survival-a life-and-death dance that has gone on between them for thousands of years. The Mongols believe that the wolf is a great and worthy foe that they are divinely instructed to contend with, but also to worship and to learn from. Chen's own encounters with the otherworldly wolves awake a latent primitive instinct in him, and his fascination with them blossoms into obsession, then reverence. After many years, the peace is shattered with the arrival of Chen's kinfolk, Han Chinese, sent from the cities to bring modernity to the grasslands. They immediately launch a campaign to exterminate the wolves, sending the balance that has been maintained with religious dedication for thousands of years into a spiral leading to extinction-first the wolves, then the Mongol culture, finally the land. As a result of the eradication of the wolves, rats become a plague and wild sheep graze until the meadows turn to dust. Mongolian dust storms glide over Beijing, sometimes blocking out the moon. Part period epic, part fable for modern days, <i>Wolf Totem</i> is a stinging social commentary on the dangers of China's overaccelerated economic growth as well as a fascinating immersion into the heart of Chinese culture.
Pendant la Rvolution culturelle, les jeunes instruits sont exils la campagne, et Chen Zhen dcouvre les steppes de la Mongolie intrieure. Guid par le vieux chasseur Bilig, il est fascin par ce monde rude et libre que se partagent les hommes et les loups. Chen Zhen est l'un des derniers contempler cette vie pastorale avant que la modernit et le totalitarisme n'entranent sa disparition. Il tente d'en prserver le souvenir et les valeurs. Le Totem du Loup est le roman le plus vendu de lhistoire moderne. Humaniste, cologiste, rebelle, cette uvre autobiographique est passe entre les mailles de la censure. Elle tmoigne de la fin du mythe du progrs et questionne les fondements de toute civilisation.