The endless succession of dynasties, some under benevolent rulers, some under ruthless dictators will survive just as the harsh barren world in his stories survives. Like most writers, Yu was an avid reader of Chinese and foreign literature. On the contrary, I have brought you into intimate conjunction with it. In other words, I am your past. This past is inescapable, Yu repeatedly reminds readers.
Society is no-longer friendly with each other, or neighborly.
But some sense of community is what allows society to survive, Yu argues. Yu does not allow his themes to be obfuscated by verbose constructions or flowery euphemisms. Yet that doesn t mean the spiritual or fantastical isn t invoked. Ghosts wander in and out of the narratives. But following a strong tradition in Chinese fiction, Yu s stories have an element of the didactic.