Is the life of the Chinese artisan drab and dull? What are his daily joys, fears, loves and hates? How do the superstitions of a hundred generations fetter his mind, and how is Young China defying the "evil spirits" to break these bonds?

YOUNG FU OF THE UPPER YANGTZE is apprentice to Tang the coppersmith. He personifies the new spirit that is rejuvenating an age-old civilization. The battling forces that make China the most fascinating enigma of the world today surge around this intelligent son of a thousand traditions.

Bandits, communists, boatmen, farmers, soldiers, artisans, scholars—all the teeming life of a crowded city thrilling with new vitality—parade through these vivid pages. The book is a story for a story lover; beneath the story surface one feels the solid foundation of a deep understanding of Chinese character, customs, problems and possibilities.

From the dust jacket