From the past comes a wind that breathes life into existence

Chinese author Yu Hua's essay collection, "Mountain Breeze," offers a collection of evocative reflections, with two essays, 'Swimming to Where the Sea Turns Blue' and 'The Mountain Breeze Blowing from the Valley,' standing out for their vivid imagery and sensory detail. These pieces invite readers to explore Hua's personal memories and his unique way of perceiving the world.

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When I read Yu Hua's writing, memories of my own surface: the salty sea, the times I'd crane my neck to check if my slippers were still there while swimming.

In 'Swimming to Where the Sea Turns Blue,' Hua recounts a childhood yearning to swim to a point where the ocean appears blue, a stark contrast to the murky color he observed. His adolescent attempt to reach this elusive blue sea eventually led him to a greener hue, a journey marked by the practical concern of securing his slippers, which he had used to weigh down his clothes. This narrative highlights how concrete, even mundane, details anchor profound experiences and memories.

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The breeze from below the mountain is honest, cool, and doesn't hesitate at all. The breeze I tasted while drinking coffee at a Spanish restaurant in a hotel seemed to hesitate a little, sometimes blowing head-on, sometimes appearing suddenly from behind.

The essay 'The Mountain Breeze Blowing from the Valley' delves into Hua's memories of various winds. He describes a breeze from a friend's apartment balcony as straightforward and cool, while another encountered at a Spanish restaurant felt hesitant and unpredictable. Unable to find precise words to capture these sensations, Hua resorts to a process of elimination, contrasting them with winds described in classical literature. He ultimately defines his ideal breeze as one that is humble and cautious, akin to the 'heavenly wind' he sought on hot summer days as a boy.

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The mountain breeze I'm talking about knows it's ordinary and insignificant, so it's humble and cautious. That humility and caution resemble the 'heavenly wind' I searched for on hot summer days when I was a boy.

This method of defining by negation, "not this, not that," is a playful yet profound way Hua engages with his subject. The reviewer adds their own comparisons, including winds from "Wuthering Heights" and Yoon Dong-ju's poetry. The collection's power lies in its ability to connect specific, tangible memories, like the scent of perilla leaves carried on the wind or the sight of clouds against a blue sky, to a deeper sense of happiness and presence. As the collection suggests, recalling past moments allows us to experience them anew, bridging the gap between memory and lived reality.

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Remembering past lives is like living them again.