SUMMERY of "Where Lake Meets Sky" Part 1
This book based on the memories of a family, centered around the ancient city of Gaoyou in North Jiangsu. It depicts the joys and sorrows, ups and downs of several generations, bearing witness to the irresistible power of the currents of time. At the same time, it presents the tangible social customs of different historical periods.
Cui Yangchun, once a physician practicing in Guangzhou, unexpectedly becomes a military general in the Taiping Rebellion. After the Tianjing Breakout, he hides on the shores of Gaoyou Lake to protect the daughter of Loyal King.
Wu Yutang, a scholar of the Qing Dynasty, holds a minor position in the capital. Just as the "Boxer Rebellion" erupts, he turns calamity into fortune, receiving rewards and honors from the Empress Dowager Cixi and returns home in glory.
Cui Ruiting, a successful candidate in the imperial examination, enters government service. Due to his involvement in a revolutionary party, he is imprisoned, loses his official position, and subsequently becomes blind, leading to the decline in his family's fortune.
Cui Xilin, also known as Cui Shuxian, defies his father's wishes and leaves home at a young age. With the support of his maternal grandfather, he completes his secondary education and returns to Gaoyou to become a primary school teacher. Later, he joins the Kuomintang, enters the military, and engages in business. He is not only diligent and hardworking but also adept at socializing, with multiple identities as a prominent figure in the military, a renowned calligrapher and painter, a leader of gangs, and a businessman. In his later years, he spends a decade in prison.
Wang Jiayu, the daughter of a wealthy family in Gaoyou, possesses keen insight and disregards her family's objections to marry the impoverished teacher Cui Xilin. Wang Jiayu is also a family member of Wang Zengqi, a great Chinese writer.
Cui Kaiyuan, born into a privileged family, joins the military after graduating from university. He serves as an assistant in the Cultural Department of the Air Defense Force and the Political Department of the Air Force, as well as joining the Writers' Association. He aspires to become an honorable Communist Party member but faces repeated criticism and scrutiny due to his bourgeois background. Despite his talent, he never achieves success in his lifetime.
Han Guanru, initially a Colonel in the Nationalist Army and a soldier in the Second Sino-Japanese War, later joins the People's Liberation Army, participating in the Huaihai Campaign and the Korean War. Despite his military achievements, he is executed due to a wrongful case.
Han Xiangxin, at the age of thirteen, joins the army and enters an art troupe. She is later transferred to the Cultural Department of the Air Defense Force where she meets Cui Kaiyuan and marries him. For the sake of love, she leaves Beijing and ventures together with her husband into the vast northern wilderness.
Cui Ge, born in the northern wasteland of Heilongjiang Province, follows his parents, who were transferred by the military, back to Gaoyou, Jiangsu at a young age. End of Part 1.
The writing is concise, and the stories densely woven. It includes exclusive secrets, insider information, as well as historical moments and portraits of everyday Chinese life.
