Old Things in the South of the City Author: Lin Haiyin People's Literature Publishing House

Different sadness, pure beauty

A timeless classic selected into the Chinese textbooks of middle schools

Summer passed, autumn passed, winter came again, the camel caravan came again, but childhood never came back. I will never do the stupid thing of imitating camels chewing in the winter sun again.

But how I missed the scenery and people in the south of Beijing when I was a child! I said to myself, let me write them down, let the actual childhood pass, and the childhood of the heart last forever.

In this way, I wrote a book called "A Boy from the South Side of the City".

——Lin Haiyin

"Old Things in the South of the City" is a classic autobiographical novel by the famous writer Ms. Lin Haiyin, first published in 1960. The book tells the joys and sorrows, the sadness and joys of the adult world through Yingzi's childish eyes, and the faint sorrow and deep lovesickness have touched generations of readers. The movie of the same name adapted from the novel by director Wu Yigong has also been a huge success.

Lin Haiyin (1918-2001) is a modern female writer. She was born in Miaoli, Taiwan, and grew up in Beijing. She became famous in 1960 with the novel "Old Things in the South of the City". She not only created many novels and prose works, but also made many achievements in the publishing industry. From 1951, she edited the supplement of "United Daily News" for 10 years, set an example for editors, and improved the level and status of literary supplements; in 1961, she founded "Pure Literature Publishing House" and discovered and encouraged many young writers.