A Dictionary of Maqiao

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A Dictionary of Maqiao
Author Han Shaogong
Original title Mǎqiáo Cídiǎn
Translator Julia Lovell
Country China
Language Chinese
Genre(s) Novel
Publisher (Eng. trans.) Columbia University Press
Publication date 1996
Published in
English
11 June 2003
Media type Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages 400 pp (Eng. trans. edition)
ISBN ISBN 0231127448 (Eng. trans. edition)

A Dictionary of Maqiao (Chinese: 马桥词典; Pinyin: Mǎqiáo Cídiǎn) is a novel written by Chinese writer Han Shaogong. It was first published in 1996 and has been translated into English by Julia Lovell. Yazhou Zhoukan selected it as one of the top 100 greatest Chinese novels in the 20th century.

Maqiao is a village in Hunan province, China. This novel is written in the form of a dictionary, or more accurately, encyclopedia. It collects 115 ‘articles’ on Maqiao village life from the perspective of a young student sent there by the Down to the Countryside Movement. These ‘articles’ do cohere into a story.

After this book was published, someones criticised that it violates the copyright of Pavic's book, Dictionary of the Khazars. The author, Han Shaogong, brought a defamation case against the critics and won this case.

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