On May 12, 2008, when the Great Sichuan Earthquake struck, writer Liao Yiwu began to write "Chronicle of the Great Earthquake", which was serialized in <i>Democratic China</i> and reprinted on several Chinese websites. It had a wide impact. Liao went to Dujiangyan, Juyuan Township, Yingxiu and other earthquake-hit areas to conduct on-the-spot interviews. His travels and writings during the earthquake were reported and translated by many mainstream media.
In April 2009, Taiwan's Asian Culture Publishing published and distributed the traditional Chinese edition of <i>Earthquake Insane Asylum</i>, a pictorial and textual factual record that preserves the living conditions of the people during of the Sichuan earthquake.
Published on January, 2022, “Ten Days in Xi’an” is a log of Chinese independent journalist Jiang Xue’s daily experiences under COVID-19 lockdown, posted onto WeChat’s social media platform. In this piece, Jiang depicts the crises and challenges faced by Xi’an residents under lockdown, such as the lack of access to medical resources. “Ten Days in Xi’an” was viewed by millions of Chinese users on social media platforms when it was posted, and received comments and support from thousands of Chinese citizens. It was later translated into English by Andréa Worden and published on Probe International virtually. You can find the translated article in the PDF below, or through this link: <https://journal.probeinternational.org/2022/08/22/ten-days-in-xian/>.
Land reform is one of the important events that affected the course of Chinese history in the twentieth century. Liao Yiwu spent two years on and off from the end of 2005 to complete <i>The Last Landlord</i>. The book comprises interviews with land reform survivors. As the author says, "Based on the degree of physical and mental weakening of the interviewees, I estimate that in another five or six years, the history of the land reform as orally told by those who witnessed it will be completely untraceable."
