During the Cultural Revolution, on a remote farm in rural China, young intellectuals are re-educated through hard work and political indoctrination. Among them are Guo Qiuyun and Yan Zhe, bound by a love that tries to survive the brutality of an era marked by suspicion, revenge and suffocating ideologies. But something surprising is hidden in the fields: a mysterious experiment conducted by Yan Zhe’s father – a famous entomologist – has revealed a shocking secret about ant society. An element capable of rewriting the very concept of altruism. When, thirty-six years later, Qiuyun returns to the places of his youth, science and the past resurface in the form of a spectacular and inexplicable pilgrimage of ants.

Wang Jinkang, undisputed master of Chinese science fiction and winner of the Galaxy Award, weaves together a story of love, loss and redemption, with profound reflections on ethics and social biology. A powerful novel that invites us to ask ourselves: can humanity learn from ants a new way of existing together?

Original Title: yisheng 蚁生
Year of Publication: August 2007
Publisher: 福建人民出版社 Fujian People’s Publishing House

Translator – Francesca Bistocchi

Italian published – Future Fiction