Cultural Exploration:
Character Dynamics:
Themes and Symbols:
Narrative Structure:
Setting and Atmosphere:
Social Commentary:
Character Development:
Writing Style:
Cultural Identity:
Reader's Experience:
The timeline of China in the 1930s and 1940s was marked by significant political, social, and military events, including the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II. Here is a general timeline of key events during this period:
1930s:
1931 (September 18): The Mukden Incident occurs when Japanese forces stage a bombing near Mukden (Shenyang), providing a pretext for the invasion of Manchuria.
1932: The establishment of Manchukuo, a puppet state in Manchuria by the Empire of Japan.
1937 (July 7): The Marco Polo Bridge Incident marks the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War. Japan's invasion of China intensifies.
1937-1945: The Second Sino-Japanese War continues with major battles such as the Battle of Shanghai and the Rape of Nanking. The conflict becomes part of the broader Pacific Theater of World War II.
1937-1941: The Chinese resistance against Japanese occupation takes various forms, including guerrilla warfare and the establishment of anti-Japanese bases.
1940s:
1940-1941: The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Nationalist government (Kuomintang or KMT) form a united front against the common enemy, Japan.
1941 (December 7): The attack on Pearl Harbor brings the United States into World War II. China becomes one of the Allies.
1942-1945: The Doolittle Raid, launched from aircraft carriers, targets Tokyo and boosts Chinese morale. The Flying Tigers, a group of American volunteer pilots, also play a crucial role in supporting Chinese resistance.
1943-1945: The Cairo Conference (1943) and the Potsdam Conference (1945) address post-war plans for Asia, including the return of territories occupied by Japan to China.
1945 (August 15): Japan announces its surrender, marking the end of World War II.
1945 (September 2): The official surrender of Japan aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. China's territories, including Taiwan and the Pescadores, are returned.
1946-1949: The Chinese Civil War resumes between the CCP and the KMT. The CCP, led by Mao Zedong, ultimately emerges victorious, establishing the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949.
This timeline provides an overview of the major events in China during the 1930s and 1940s, a period of intense conflict and transformation in the country's history.
Melissa Fu grew up in Northern New Mexico and now lives near Cambridge, UK, with her husband and children. She graduated from Rice University, cum laude, with a double major in Physics and English and went on to earn a Masters in Condensed Matter Physics at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and a Masters in English Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. She has worked in education as a teacher, curriculum developer, and consultant.
Melissa was the regional winner of the Words and Women 2016 Prose Competition and was a 2017 Apprentice with the London-based Word Factory. Her work appears in several publications including The Lonely Crowd, International Literature Showcase, Bare Fiction, Wasafiri Online, and The Willowherb Review. In 2019, her debut poetry pamphlet was published by the Hedgehog Poetry Press. In 2018/2019, Melissa received an Arts Council England, Developing Your Creative Practice grant and was the David TK Wong Fellow at the University of East Anglia.
Her first novel, Peach Blossom Spring, was a BBC Radio 2 Book Club pick in the UK and a 2022 Indies Introduce title for the American Booksellers Association. It is available in English, Dutch and Italian. Hungarian, Romanian and German editions are forthcoming.
Peach Blossom Spring is her first novel.