Will the Boat Sink the Water
Encyclopedia
Will the Boat Sink the Water, subtitled The Life of China's Peasants and originally published as Zhongguo nongmin diaocha: An Investigation of Chinese Peasants, ((中国农民调查 / 中國農民調查) is an influential 2006 book about China's peasantry authored by husband and wife team Chen Guidi
and Wu Chuntao. After publication it was banned in China. The exposé includes descriptions of government corruption and abuses of China's population in rural areas. The book was originally published in January 2004 and banned by the Communist Party in March of that year. The book won the 2004 Lettre Ulysses Award
. It was banned by the Propaganda Department of the Communist Party of China before the opening of a session of the National People's Congress
, but "turned into an explosive, underground mega-bestseller" with more than 7 million pirated copies sold of the 460-page "yellow-bound" volume as of 2005. The book can be found in some of China's bookshops for 22 yuan (US $2.65).
An Investigation of China's Peasantry is an exposé about corruption and hardship in rural China. It was published in 2004. It was later banned and was at the center of a libel trial. The book's authors, Chen Guidi and Wu Chuntao, were featured as heros by Time (magazine)
. Philip Pan
wrote about the book and the libel case in his book Out of Mao's Shadow.
Chen Guidi
Chen Guidi is a Chinese writer from Huaiyuan county, Anhui. The book A Survey of the Chinese Peasants which he co-wrote with his wife Wu Chuntao was published in January 2004 but banned by the Communist Party in March of that year. It nevertheless won the 2004 Lettre Ulysses Award...
and Wu Chuntao. After publication it was banned in China. The exposé includes descriptions of government corruption and abuses of China's population in rural areas. The book was originally published in January 2004 and banned by the Communist Party in March of that year. The book won the 2004 Lettre Ulysses Award
Lettre Ulysses Award
The Lettre Ulysses Award for the Art of Reportage has been given annually since 2003 for the best texts in the genre of literary reportage, which must have been first published during the previous two years...
. It was banned by the Propaganda Department of the Communist Party of China before the opening of a session of the National People's Congress
National People's Congress
The National People's Congress , abbreviated NPC , is the highest state body and the only legislative house in the People's Republic of China. The National People's Congress is held in the Great Hall of the People, Beijing, capital of the People's Republic of China; with 2,987 members, it is the...
, but "turned into an explosive, underground mega-bestseller" with more than 7 million pirated copies sold of the 460-page "yellow-bound" volume as of 2005. The book can be found in some of China's bookshops for 22 yuan (US $2.65).
An Investigation of China's Peasantry is an exposé about corruption and hardship in rural China. It was published in 2004. It was later banned and was at the center of a libel trial. The book's authors, Chen Guidi and Wu Chuntao, were featured as heros by Time (magazine)
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
. Philip Pan
Philip Pan
Philip Pan is an American journalist and author. He won the Arthur Ross Book Award Gold Medal in 2009 for his bestselling book about political change in modern China, Out of Mao's Shadow: The Struggle for the Soul of a New China, which was also named a Best Book of 2008 by the Washington Post and...
wrote about the book and the libel case in his book Out of Mao's Shadow.