The Little Restaurant

Wang Anyi is a prominent writer among the "Seeking Roots" group. The daughter of the fiction writer Ju Chih-chuan, Wang Anyi grew up in Shanghai, China. Like so many others of her generation, she had her education cut short in 1969 when she was sent to do farm labor on a commune in the backward northern part of Anhwei Province. In 1972 her fortunes improved when she was relocated to northern Kiangsu to the city of Hsu-chou, where she became part of a cultural troupe. She began to publish short stories in 1976, while she was still away from home.

Wang Anyi was allowed to return to Shanghai in 1978, and she found a position as editor of the magazine Childhood. In 1980, the year in which she wrote "And the Rain Patters On," she was offered an opportunity for further professional training, Two important stories-"Base the Wall" and "Lapse of Time"-followed in 1981 and 1982. These stories deal with the subtle psychological changes of characters during the " lost years" of the Cultural Revolution. Although Anyi's writing has a distinct Chinese flavor, there also is evidence of surrealism.

Wang Anyi claims to be exploring the structure of Chinese culture, as well as Freud and sexuality. She has always claimed that she herself has been driven by repressed passions, and it is an indication of her intellectual curiosity and honesty that she should probe these forces in her fiction. Chinese readers admire her both her delicate and restrained style.

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