Mao Dun Literature Award-winning novel adapted for a radio drama
The radio drama series based on local writer Sun Ganlu's spy thriller novel "A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains" stars some of Shanghai's best-known TV anchors.
Famous local writer Sun Ganlu's Mao Dun Literature Award-winning novel, "A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains," has been adapted into a radio drama series.
The spy thriller novel was recently announced as a winner of the coveted 11th Mao Dun Literature Award.
Set in 1933, the novel is based on a historical event of how the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China secretly and strategically transferred from Shanghai to Ruijin with the help of a group of heroic underground Party members.
In 1933, the great Chinese novelist and social activist Mao Dun published his influential novel "Midnight." Sun's novel is also a tribute to him.
The novel's title is the same as Song Dynasty (960-1279) prodigy Wang Ximeng's well-known painting, a spectacular landscape that includes detailed daily life scenes of ordinary people. In the novel, it is the code name for the secret operation.
Sun vividly depicts how the Party members bravely faced life and death challenges, with loyalty, faith and wisdom, as well as enemy searches and massacres.
Many locations and folk customs mentioned in the novel are based on Sun's own memories and impressions of Shanghai.
"A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains" is one of the winners of the 11th Mao Dun Literature Award. The novel about faith has resonated with many Chinese readers.
The book has sparked many Chinese readers' exploration and in-depth analysis and discussions on the geography, poetry, drama, music, paintings, and food portrayed in the novel.
"I started to conceive the story many years ago," Sun said. "Writing is a long, slow and complicated process."
Sun said his passion for writing novels began to grow during the 1960s and 1970s, when he was exposed to various works of fiction through reading and radio broadcasts.
Directed by Wang Xing, the radio drama series, which was released on the online audio-sharing platform Ximalaya, stars veteran actress Xi Meijuan and 15 famous TV anchors of the "Prick Up Your Ears" studio. Among them are Yin Hairong, Xing Hang, and Shi Yan.
"The story about faith has resonated with all of us," said anchor Yin. "The drama is also a courageous exploration of broadcasters and anchors into the new field of language art."
Sun's original novel is expected to be published by foreign publishing houses in more than 10 languages in the near future.
The radio drama has been released on the online audio-sharing platform Ximalaya. Scan the QR code to listen to it.
