A Dictionary of Maqiao

Blurb

A Dictionary of Maqiao 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 the book was published, some critics claimed that it violated the copyright of Pavic's novel, Dictionary of the Khazars. The author, Han Shaogong, brought a defamation case against the critics and won this case.