Award-winning Chinese novelist Yu Hua recounts some of the most important events in modern Chinese history through the lens of language and personal experience.

Over the past 40 years, China has made one of the most dramatic economic leaps in history.

As Chinese media outlets are still heavily censored, the only way to understand life during the Mao Zedong era and the decades that followed is to turn to those who remember it.

Yu Hua is an award-winning Chinese author known for his concise narrative style.

China in Ten Words is Yu Hua's 2010 essay collection that analyzes important historical events and changes that occurred during his lifetime.

For each chapter, there is a word to frame the events: people, leader, reading, writing, Lu Xun, revolution, disparity, grassroots, copycat, and bamboozle.